F-35 program facing skyrocketing costs, pilot shortage and infrastructure deficit: AG report

Peter Zimonjic · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 10, 2025 10:08 AM EDT | Last Updated: 16 minutes ago

Canada's program to bargain 88 U.S.-built F-35 combatant jets is facing important challenges, including skyrocketing costs, a shortage of trained pilots and a deficiency of captious infrastructure, according to a caller study from Auditor General Karen Hogan.

The audit for the F-35 programme is portion of Hogan's outpouring audits, released Tuesday, which besides recovered contracts awarded to GCStrategies for the ArriveCan app and different services regularly did not travel due processes oregon present worth for money. 

In December 2022, the Liberal authorities announced it had signed a woody to bargain 88 F-35 combatant jets from the United States to regenerate Canada's aging CF-18 Hornet fleet.

Hogan's audit of the F-35 programme focused connected whether National Defence's plan to get the jets was connected docket and connected budget, uncovering important challenges connected some fronts.

"This is simply a large, multi-year task that requires progressive and ongoing absorption of risks and costs to guarantee that the CF-35 fleet tin beryllium brought into work connected time," Hogan said successful a statement.

According to the report, the outgo of the F-35 programme has risen to $27.7 cardinal — up from the $19 billion National Defence announced successful 2023. That's without factoring successful the costs for indispensable infrastructure upgrades and precocious weapons purchases.

Securing captious infrastructure, such arsenic operating bases, and weapons, specified arsenic missiles for the aircraft, volition outgo astatine slightest an further $5.5 billion, the audit said.

Part of the crushed for the accrued basal costs of the programme was that National Defence utilized outdated outgo estimates erstwhile it announced the deal, it found, but planetary factors are besides to blame.

"We recovered that an important portion of the summation successful the department's updated outgo estimates of $27.7 cardinal was caused by planetary factors, specifically: rising inflation; fluctuations successful overseas speech rates and heightened planetary request for munitions."

The audit besides said "unforeseen infrastructure complexities" importantly impacted National Defence's outgo estimates.

Pilots and facilities

According to the audit, the operation and outfitting of the combatant squadron's main operating bases successful Cold Lake, Alta., and Bagotville, Que., are much than 3 years down schedule.

The archetypal program was to person these bases up and moving erstwhile Canada started receiving its archetypal transportation of F-35s successful 2028, but that day has present been pushed backmost to 2031.

Construction was delayed aft National Defence determined that the design needed to beryllium reworked to accommodate circumstantial requirements of the F-35, it said.

With the combatant squadron's main operating bases unfit for service, National Defence was forced to make an interim operations program that progressive utilizing movable facilities and renovating existing facilities.

The audit said the request for an interim installation volition summation the full planned outgo of infrastructure for the combatant pitchy program, but the outgo for the interim measures were not disposable astatine the clip of the audit.

While the rising costs and delays to infrastructure are a situation successful bid "to marque the CF-35A fleet afloat operational, the Royal Canadian Air Force volition request much trained pilots," Hogan's report added. 

The audit besides provided an update connected erstwhile Canada tin expect the transportation of its F-35s. Canada initially enactment down wealth for 16 — a squadron ranges successful size from 16 to 18 jets — but Lockheed Martin said it would lone beryllium capable to springiness Canada 12 jets successful the abbreviated term. 

The archetypal 8 of those jets volition beryllium sent to Luke Air Force Base successful Arizona between 2026 and 2027. The remaining 80 craft volition beryllium sent straight to Canada starting successful 2028, with the past of the jets expected sometime successful 2032 if Canada fulfils the afloat contract. 

A time aft Portugal signalled it was readying to ditch its acquisition of the F-35 successful March, Canada announced it will speech to rival craft makers arsenic it considers imaginable alternatives to the U.S.-built F-35 stealth fighter. 

There has been a groundswell of enactment among Canadians to termination the $19-billion acquisition and find craft different than those manufactured and maintained successful the United States.

Defence Minister David McGuinty issued a connection saying helium volition "ensure that the AG's recommendations are afloat integrated and that the champion worth continues to beryllium provided to Canadians."

McGuinty said his authorities has already acted to effort to mitigate challenges pointed retired successful the audit by:

• Updating and refining the implementation to guarantee it stays connected schedule.
• Reviewing outgo estimates connected an yearly ground to amended place issues.
• Improve however the government communicates advancement connected the F-35 project.  

ArriveCan app contractor

Hogan's audit besides looked astatine the contracts awarded to and payments made by national organizations to GCStrategies, focusing on whether the national authorities received worth for wealth and whether due processes were followed. 

Between April 2015 and March 2024, 31 national organizations awarded 106 contracts to GCStrategies worthy $92.7 million — of which astir $64.5 cardinal was yet paid out, the audit said.

That $64.5 cardinal includes the worth of the 4 contracts GCStrategies received to make the ArriveCan app during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Hogan's February 2024 study estimated that GC Strategies received $19.1 cardinal for its enactment connected ArriveCan.

In March 2024, the national authorities suspended GCStrategies' security clearance and nary caller contracts were awarded to the institution successful the 2024–25 fiscal year.

"The findings successful this audit echo those of erstwhile audits, wherever we recovered deficiencies successful however nationalist servants applied national procurement rules," Hogan said successful a statement.

"There are nary recommendations successful this study due to the fact that I don't judge the authorities needs much procurement rules. Rather, national organizations request to marque definite that the rules that beryllium are understood and followed."

WATCH | Federal watchdog digs into ArriveCan ungraded (from March 2024): 

Hogan's audit included an investigation of a typical illustration of the contracts fixed to GCStrategies, excluding the ArriveCan contracts, uncovering that in one-fifth of cases, the firm's enactment was proceeding without the due information clearances.

The audit said that successful 94 per cent of the contracts examined, timesheets were utilized arsenic a monitoring instrumentality by the applicable authorities department. But successful 58 per cent of these cases, timesheets were either accepted with "poorly documented descriptions of work" oregon the timesheets were not collected astatine all.

"Without ensuring receipt of timesheets from each declaration resources, the section could not verify who worked connected the declaration and what enactment was completed by the declaration resources," it said.

The audit besides recovered that successful one-third of the contracts it examined, the national authorities could not amusement GCStrategies "had the acquisition and qualifications needed to implicit the required work," oregon whether the complaint the institution was being paid reflected its quality to bash the occupation assigned. 

"We recovered that neither Public Services and Procurement Canada, nor immoderate different national organization, collects government‐wide accusation connected rates paid and supplier performance," it said. 

"This benignant of accusation would assistance national organizations measure whether the supplier is qualified to execute the enactment and validate that the rates charged are not higher than marketplace rates," the study added. 

Hogan's report concluded that erstwhile it came to the enactment awarded "to GCStrategies and different companies incorporated by its co-founders … worth for wealth for these contracts was not obtained."