Sustainable Development Technology Canada will not try to recover approximately $34 million paid to five projects its own review found were ineligible for funding, according to a written response to Parliament.
The response, signed by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, says the review examined 173 projects with help from three independent third parties. It found five projects ineligible under SDTC’s agreement with the Crown and a sixth that received funding for some ineligible costs. The five projects received about $34 million since 2017.
SDTC’s board decided against pursuing repayment after consulting legal counsel. It said the recipients had negotiated and carried out their funding agreements in good faith, and that recovery was unlikely to succeed or serve the public interest.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada issued SDTC a notice of breach over the ineligible projects, then sent a letter accepting the board’s approach.
Conservative MP Luc Berthold had asked how much of the $400 million in funding cited in his question had been recovered, who repaid it and what further recovery efforts were underway. The department’s answer provides no total recovered, no list of repayments and no recovery timetable. It also does not say that the entire $400 million was paid to projects later found ineligible.
The Auditor General’s 2024 audit found serious failures in SDTC’s handling of public money, including $59 million awarded to 10 ineligible projects among the 58 it examined.
