Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Again, I definitely take my colleague's observation into consideration, and I very much appreciate his contributions to the discussion around this table and into our investigation of the ArriveCAN app.
Mr. Firth appeared before the committee in November, I believe, and I know there were additional summons that were brought forward. Again, the patience and understanding of this committee are not absolute. There is a limit, but I believe there are steps that need to be taken before we actually get to that limit.
The other thing I wanted to say is if you look at some of the points that are often made by my colleagues around the table, this was an app that was originally meant to cost $80,000. When you look at what the ArriveCAN app is actually about, the original ArriveCAN app was $80,000. If we want to speak factually and ground our discussion in the ArriveCAN app and facts, we have to look at the fact that—according to the CBSA in a document that it published on its website that breaks down the costs—yes, the $80,000 was for the original app, but what we're really talking about here are the additional costs that stemmed from the following.
For example, a Service Canada call centre was stood up and established to be able to receive calls and emails from travellers who were using the COVID health measures and the app. If they had questions for the Public Health Agency of Canada or the CBSA, they were able to contact this call centre. The actual cost of that, based on the March 31, 2023, document that was published, was $8.5 million.
There was data management for the Public Health Agency and the CBSA to collect data, report, monitor and ensure compliance. You have to keep in mind that the app was actually downloaded 18 million times over two years, if I'm not mistaken. There were something like 60 million users. There was a ton of sensitive information that was collected, so you needed to have a data centre that was able to gather that information, share it with all of the provincial health agencies and keep it confidential. That data management cost $7.9 million.
There were also data storage and cloud services to be able to store the data safely, because this was sensitive information. The data storage and cloud services cost $6.4 million.
I encourage the folks listening, including the journalists who are listening, to download what is called the “Border Public Health Measures Cost”. It's a document that's available on the CBSA website that breaks down all the costs of the ArriveCAN app.
In addition to the Service Canada call centre, in addition to data management and storage, there were additional systems on the back end that needed to be stood up and created in order for ArriveCAN to work.
I'll give you one example: cybersecurity. To ensure that all cybersecurity and security measures were met, an additional $2.4 million was spent on cybersecurity. Why is that important? When you're crossing over the border—let's say at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor—and you're sharing your personal health information that you just filled out, you can be darn sure that Canadians want to make sure that information is secure, because it's sensitive information. You can't just treaty it willy-nilly. You need to make sure that when it is shared with the other provincial health agencies, it is secure. That cost $2.4 million—