SAAQclic: Accountant on the defensive as hourly rates skyrocket
Posted September 29, 2025 2:57 pm.
An accountant attached to the digital transformation project office of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) expressed her “unease” at the hourly rates, which jumped to $350 per hour for certain external resources at the start of the contract with the consortium.
Élodie Hudon-Chabot, who testified Monday before the Gallant Commission, however, placed the responsibility for this decision on the “managers who are accountable for this contract.” Hudon-Chabot mentioned that her job was to review invoices related to the SAAQclic project, not to approve them.
“I carried out the management decisions that were made,” she said. However, “I myself felt uncomfortable,” she continued.
The commission of inquiry’s prosecutor, Marie-Claude Sarrazin, reminded her of the SAAQ’s plan identifying the risks and control measures related to the IT project known as CASA.
The issue of hourly rates billed that did not comply with the contract was one of the risks to be monitored. The responsibility for keeping an eye on this aspect and taking action fell to Hudon-Chabot, the prosecutor pointed out.
The accountant defended herself against accusations of not following the guidelines set out in the plan, stating that it had been adopted after the changes to remuneration had been made. The civil servant also argued that the hourly rate of $350 was included in the contract, but acknowledged that the guidelines governing its application appeared to be missing.
“I noticed that people were changing rates. I asked about it, and then I was sent to a manager who told me that the decision had been made. I don’t know what more I could have done. (…) I implemented a decision that was given to me,” she insisted.
Hudon-Chabot then said she did not know if she had taken the matter further.
During the Gallant Commission hearings, it was revealed that external resources had seen their hourly rates increase from $82 to $350 per hour without prior authorization and without real justification in 2018.
The $82/hour rate, the lowest provided for in the contract, was linked to the technology integration job profile, while the $350/hour rate was linked to “cutting-edge expertise.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
