Québec City, Québec -- The headquarters of Quebec’s automobile insurance board, the Société de l'Assurance Automobile du Québec, were raided by the province’s anti-corruption squad, the Unité Permanente Anticorruption.
The raid comes months after the UPAC announced it was investigating the SAAQ.
In 2023, the SAAQ launched its online services platform, SAAQclic, which was criticized for its difficulty to use. SAAQclic was designed to reduce in-person visits to the SAAQ; however, technical issues resulted in a greater number of in-person visits to the SAAQ. In addition, the system was so difficult to use that more people were using the SAAQ’s website before SAAQclic was implemented.
It was later found that the SAAQclic project was $500 million over budget. UPAC has been investigating the SAAQ since the end of February and the SAAQclic has been the subject of a public inquiry since April.
It was concluded in the auditor general’s report that $222 million in cost overruns were used to avoid public and political scrutiny. This, followed by Éric Caire’s resignation as minister of cybersecurity and digital technology in February 2025, has left many questioning the SAAQ’s management of digital infrastructure projects.
While UPAC confirmed that the operation was underway in a statement sent to Radio-Canada, they declined to provide further information, “in order to not compromise the collection of information, protect the integrity of the evidence as well as the safety and reputation of the people who may be involved.”
According to the SAAQ, they are “fully co-operating” with the investigation.
