Deloitte's $1.6M Canadian healthcare report contains AI-generated errors
Deloitte's $1.6 million healthcare report commissioned by Newfoundland and Labrador reportedly contains multiple AI-generated errors, including fictional academic citations. The company said AI was used only to support research citations and that it is revising the report, with corrections not affecting the main findings.", <parameter name="event_date">2025-05
What happened
Deloitte was commissioned by Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial government to produce a 526-page healthcare report for close to $1.6 million, disseminated in May 2025.
The report contains several errors potentially linked to use of AI, including citations to fictional academic papers used to support cost-analysis conclusions. An adjunct professor at Dalhousie University was cited as author of an academic paper that does not exist.
Deloitte stated in a response that 'AI was not used to write the report; it was selectively used to support a small number of research citations' and that the firm is 'revising the report to make a small number of citation corrections, which do not impact the report findings.'
Reported impact
The report advised the province's health department on topics including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers, retention incentives, and virtual care, as the province faces a shortage of healthcare staff.
Index analysis
This incident follows a similar case in which Deloitte was caught using AI to help produce a report for the Australian government that contained multiple errors; Deloitte partially refunded a $440,000 fee for that work.
Governance controls
Deloitte stated that it stands behind the recommendations in the report and that citation corrections do not impact the report findings.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.