The Government of Canada’s quiet release of “GC Wallet,” a digital credentials app on the Google Play Store, has raised questions about whether the Carney Liberals are preparing to mandate digital IDs.
The app, developed by Employment and Social Development Canada, promises a “secure and convenient way to store and access your official digital credentials, such as temporary visas or digital personnel licenses,” with encrypted, offline QR-code sharing.
"They have also cancelled an industry RFP process," said Justin Trudeau's brother Kyle Kemper on X.
Officials insist it remains a limited pilot for approved participants only. Critics warn that digital IDs concentrate vast personal data—biometrics, travel history, health status—in centralized or federated databases that become irresistible targets for hackers and state surveillance (Electronic Frontier Foundation 2024; Privacy International 2023).
Many systems quietly “phone home” each time a credential is presented, allowing real-time tracking of citizens’ movements and transactions without meaningful consent or judicial oversight (American Civil Liberties Union 2025; The Guardian 2024).
Weak or nonexistent data-minimization rules permit routine sharing with police and corporations (Center for Democracy & Technology 2024; Reuters Aadhaar leaks 2023–2025), while mandatory adoption excludes people lacking smartphones or stable addresses, widening inequality (World Bank ID4D 2024; Human Rights Watch 2025). Far from neutral tools, these systems risk transforming everyday life into a permanent digital checkpoint.
The GC Wallet launch also renews scrutiny of Ottawa’s troubled history delivering functional apps. The controversial $54-million ArriveCAN application, plagued by glitches, cost overruns and mandatory-use scandals, remains a cautionary example of federal digital-project failures.
No timeline for broader GC Wallet rollout has been provided.