Watchdog rebukes Quebec auto insurance board after $500M online platform scandal

A person walks past an office for the Societe de l'assurance automobile du Quebec (SAAQ), in Montreal on Thursday, Oct., 2, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

Another blow has been dealt to Quebec’s auto insurance board, the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ).

The Autorité des marchés publics (AMP) has criticized it for several alleged breaches in relation to its management of the SAAQclic project, which “contravene the responsible management of public funds and undermine the principles of integrity, transparency and fair competition.”

Among the breaches, the AMP claims:

• Deficient planning in several respects, particularly in regard to needs assessment, market analysis and cost estimation;
• Irregularities in the training and work of the selection committee;
• Modification of essential elements of the framework contract that changed the nature and cost of the work;
• Splitting of requirements to avoid complying with accountability obligations.

Consequently, the AMP says it wants to “have the SAAQ’s internal auditors conduct a real-time audit of the framework contract and related contracts and inform the AMP of the results every six months.”

The SAAQ would also have to notify the AMP “of the directions it intends to take regarding deliveries that were not made but were provided for in the framework contract.”

This comes after the launch of the SAAQclic platform in February 2023, which experienced significant glitches, causing long queues at service points.

The SAAQ’s digital shift is expected to cost taxpayers at least $1.1 billion, $500 million more than anticipated, according to calculations by the Auditor General of Quebec.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Jan. 13, 2026.