The commissioner who oversaw the public inquiry into the $500 million cost‑overrun scandal at Quebec’s auto insurance board is scheduled to release his report publicly on Feb. 16, a document that is expected to be closely watched by insurers, brokers and policymakers across the country.
Judge Denis Gallant presided over 75 days of hearings in 2025 examining how costs ballooned as the auto insurance board launched a new digital platform intended to modernize core services.
Quebec’s auto insurance board, the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), administers the province’s public no‑fault bodily injury scheme as well as driver licensing, road tests and vehicle registration. That dual role means operational failures at the state‑run corporation affect both insurance and core mobility services: when systems go down or backlogs build up, Quebec drivers can face delays in taking road tests, renewing licenses or registering vehicles, while the public insurance program’s reputation comes under pressure.
The digital platform at the heart of the inquiry – widely known as SAAQclic – was designed to move more of those services online, including license renewals, appointment booking and vehicle transactions. Its 2023 rollout, however, triggered long lines at SAAQ branches and widespread service disruption, prompting criticism of the project’s planning, vendor oversight and change management, and raising broader questions about how major public‑sector IT initiatives are governed in Quebec.
More than 130 witnesses testified during the inquiry, including Premier François Legault, senior SAAQ executives, public‑sector officials, technology suppliers and union representatives. Legault told the inquiry he had been kept in the dark about the scale of the cost overruns and placed much of the blame on the leadership of the state‑run corporation.
The premier launched the inquiry after the auditor general revealed that the digital project was expected to cost taxpayers at least $1.1 billion by 2027, roughly $500 million more than originally planned. The auditor’s report followed the troubled 2023 rollout, which had already led to major delays and long lines at insurance board branches, where Quebecers take road tests, register vehicles and access other services.
For the insurance sector, Gallant’s report is expected to resonate beyond the immediate political fallout from a single project. SAAQ’s financial health and operational reliability underpin Quebec’s unique public auto model, which co‑exists with private insurers that write physical damage and other auto‑related coverages. Any recommendations on governance, transparency, risk management and major systems projects at SAAQ will be watched closely by insurers, brokers and reinsurers that rely on stable, predictable public‑sector partners in the province’s hybrid auto insurance framework.
Industry observers will also be looking for guidance on broader issues that surfaced during the hearings, including how large public digital transformations should be scoped and overseen, the role of boards and central government in monitoring risk and spend, and how lessons from SAAQclic might apply to other Crown corporations and public insurers across Canada.
In his closing statement at the end of the hearings, Gallant told Quebecers that “every stone” had been turned over during his investigation. The publication of his report on Feb. 16 will now test whether the inquiry’s findings and recommendations are seen as sufficient to restore confidence in SAAQ’s governance and to prevent similar cost overruns on future large‑scale public projects.
