SAP software not suited for SAAQclic project, inquiry hears

Commissioner Denis Gallant, who is investigating the SAAQclic project, at the opening of his hearings on Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

From the outset, choosing SAP software to build the SAAQclic project was bound to result in cost overruns because it was not adapted to the needs of Quebec’s auto insurance board (SAAQ) and required major adjustments.

Michel Dumas, former CEO of LGS, the IBM subsidiary that developed the project for the SAAQ, testified as such before the Gallant Commission Thursday.

Dumas explained that SAP’s generic software was designed for much simpler tasks.

“I don’t want to exaggerate, but the name of the module — it wasn’t a licensing or registration management module. It was a management module. It’s called Plan and Maintenance. As I understand it, it’s meant for warehouse parts management,“ he said.

”At first glance, when you look at processes, it makes sense. You can fit that process in, you change the names. But when you get into precise business rules, well, that’s a whole different story.”

A day earlier, Dumas told the commission that when he first joined the project, he noticed several anomalies and suggested rethinking the entire strategy.

Asked by commission counsel Marie-Claude Sarrazin whether he considered abandoning SAP customization, Dumas replied that it would likely have been better to build a module from scratch.

Private-sector solutions don’t fit public needs

Dumas, who had previously served as vice-president of information technology at the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST), said he had to shut down an earlier computerization project at that agency because of persistent difficulties.

The issue, he said, is that the needs of a public body are vastly different from those of the private sector.

“The experience I had with modernization was exactly the same. From the moment you try to implement industry software into Quebec-specific laws, you run into the same challenge. That’s reality, whether we like it or not.”

He cited not only the CSST, but also the Justice Department and the Commission administrative des régimes de retraite (CARRA), whose computerization budget more than doubled between 2005 and 2009 and was also delayed. In that case, too, LGS was the contractor.

Shared responsibility

Sarrazin also focused on mediation talks aimed at resolving disputes worth tens of millions of dollars between the SAAQ and LGS. She noted that LGS documents blamed all delays and overruns on the SAAQ.

“Where is LGS’s share of responsibility?” she asked.

Dumas acknowledged that IBM (LGS) “accepts its imperfection because it bears part of the cost” of overruns. But he stressed that since the SAAQ insisted on retaining overall project management and decision-making, it assumed ultimate responsibility.

“There were parts where LGS wasn’t perfect,” he conceded. “Yes, IBM also has responsibilities.”

Costs soar

Cost records show the contract, which in December 2019 called for 876,000 hours of work at a cost of $107 million, had grown to 1.7 million hours at $210 million in October 2020, 2.2 million hours at $299 million in December 2021, and finally 3.4 million hours at $405 million in December 2022.

Dumas attributed the surge in hours and costs mainly to COVID-19, which forced a complete reorganization of work, delays to the project and the need to maintain staff over a longer period.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French Sept. 25, 2025.