Researchers with expertise in procurement and ethics are urging Ottawa to audit the federal contracts of two major suppliers that built a $1.1 billion digital platform for the Quebec provincial government. The project is now under investigation for cost overruns and technical failures.

Paul Larson, a University of Manitoba supply chain management professor, called on the federal government to examine contracts awarded to the project’s two main suppliers, the Canadian subsidiaries of the German software giant SAP and the U.S. technology company IBM, while the proceedings are underway.