The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) will take over the troubled Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP), after a Global News investigation revealed serious flaws in its operation and administration practises.
PHAC launched a compliance audit into Oxaro Inc., the Ottawa consulting firm contracted by the federal government to administer the program, in late July.
It came following the broadcast and publication of a three-part investigation Global News investigation into VISP in July, which revealed allegations and complaints by applicants and former workers about Oxaro’s flawed delivery over the past four years, despite $54 million in taxpayer dollars going to the program.
On Wednesday, Guillaume Bertrand, director of communications for Health Minister Marjorie Michel, confirmed that a funding agreement with Oxaro will end on March 31, 2026, and the government will then transition the administration of VISP to PHAC.
“This is also part of our commitment to significantly reducing reliance on external consultants, while improving the capacity of the public service to hire expertise in-house,” Bertrand said.
“We will publicly share further details on how the program will be delivered under PHAC when they become available.”
Oxaro did not respond to an emailed request from Global News for comment before publication.
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VISP was announced by the Liberal government in 2020 to provide financial support to anyone who is seriously and permanently injured as it embarked on the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the largest such effort in the country’s history. It decided to outsource its administration the following year.
The five-month Global News investigation that prompted the outcry revealed that:
- Oxaro had received $50.6 million in taxpayer money; $33.7 million has been spent on administrative costs, while injured Canadians received $16.9 million. Updated Health Canada figures released last week show the company has now received $54.1 million and spent $36.3 million on administration costs, with just $18.1 million paid to injured Canadians
- PHAC and Oxaro underestimated the number of injury claims VISP would get, initially predicting 40 per year and then up to 400 valid claims annually. More than 3,317 applications have been filed — of those, more than 1,738 people await decisions on their claims
- Some injured applicants say they face a revolving door of unreachable VISP case managers and require online fundraising campaigns to survive
- Some VISP applicants and former staff said Oxaro was unequipped to deliver fully on the program’s mission to deliver “timely and fair” support, and questions emerged about why the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) chose this company over others, while internal documents suggested poor planning from the start
Global News obtained internal government documents that suggested poor planning from the start, as both PHAC and Oxaro underestimated the number of applications the program would get.
In response to the revelations by Global News, four opposition Conservative MPs called for a Commons committee investigation into the VISP, and a pivotal non-profit health foundation also said the program needs an urgent overhaul.
PHAC then agreed to expedite its audit of the company, asking agency staffers to recommend new ways of delivering the services to ailing Canadians.
“PHAC is currently accelerating its audit of Oxaro and Oxaro’s management of the Vaccine Injury Support Program, and the Agency will provide recommendations on alternative delivery models for the program,” Emilie Gauduchon-Campbell, a senior communications adviser responsible for issues management in the health minister’s office, said in July.
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