Over 1,800 contracts signed as part of SAAQclic digital transformation
Posted June 2, 2025 3:41 pm.
Last Updated June 2, 2025 3:42 pm.
More than 1,800 contracts were signed as part of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec’s (SAAQ) digital transformation, excluding the main contract signed with the consortium.
This was revealed Monday morning by the Gallant Commission, which is investigating the failures of the government corporation’s IT project, known as the Carrefour des services affaires (CASA), which includes the SAAQclic platform.
A lawyer for the commission, Charlotte Deslauriers-Goulet, presented the contractual timeline behind the SAAQ’s technological modernization.
She indicated that at least 1,879 contracts, which she describes as “satellites,” have been signed over the past 10 years. These are “all contracts that are evolving or have evolved peripherally” to the $458.4 million framework contract signed in 2017 with the alliance formed by SAP and LGS, which belongs to IBM, mentioned Deslauriers-Goulet.
The list may include mandates for strategic advisors awarded in 2015, before the launch of the tendering process, as well as for technical support during the project’s development.
“Some of these satellite contracts were signed relatively recently,” the lawyer explained. “Because they include contracts aimed at ensuring that CASA eventually succeeds or that help rectify the problematic situation that arose during the launch of the online platform, what the media are calling the SAAQclic fiasco.”
The commission does not yet know the total value of these “satellite” mandates, which are in addition to the initial budget of $458.4 million and the additional expenditures of $153.7 million related to the contract with the alliance.
“But we know we’re talking about a considerable amount,” specified Deslauriers-Goulet.
The commission is continuing its analysis of this list of contracts, which was provided by the SAAQ itself. The commission was also unable to identify “with certainty” all the co-contractors involved, but some have interacted directly with members of the consortium, indicated Deslauriers-Goulet.
The SAAQ’s technological modernization project could cost at least $1.1 billion by 2027, or $500 million more than expected, according to the Auditor General’s (AG) calculations. It is possible that the AG took some of these “satellite contracts” into account in his estimate, but without knowing their number.
