The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the provincial government to take “immediate action” to address weaknesses in government financial controls that has led to hundreds of fraud-related incidents.

Auditor General Denise Hanrahan recently released a report on the province’s 2025 financial statement audits.

She discovered 490 incidents of fraud reported over the last year – 64 per cent of those related to attempted cheque fraud by recipients and the other 26 per cent involving people who received income support payments under false pretenses.

CTF Atlantic Director and General Counsel, Devin Drover says while some incidents were attempts, the findings reveal weaknesses in the system.

“We’re not talking about minor bookkeeping issues here, it’s almost 500 cases where government funds, taxpayer funds, were either improperly accessed, misused or fraudulently targeted.”

He’s calling on government to “fully investigate every case identified in the report, strengthen fraud prevention across all departments and recover any lost funds.

He cites a recent physician signing bonus program (the Medical Services Family Practice Starter Program) as one example outlined in the AG report.

“So it provides up to $150,000 for a doctor to relocate to Newfoundland and Labrador to practice here. What we saw last year is that there were several grants issued to external parties,”

“I believe posing as Alberta physicians, when in reality they were residing here in Newfoundland and Labrador, and not eligible for the bonus. So, that total loss was up to $450,000 – that’s nearly half a million dollars gone, and while the matter has been reported to police, the report identified that there’s no recovery plan or process to recover those funds.”