An independent investigation has concluded that allegations of corruption related to Red Deer County’s public procurement practices were not substantiated.
The forensic accounting investigation by KPMG Forensic Inc. examined relationships, procurement and contracting processes involving several County vendors and included an in-depth review of certain County tenders, agreements, general ledgers and purchasing and payment data. The investigation focused on the 2019 through 2023 fiscal years but, in some cases, examined as far back as 2014.
Red Deer County Council received KPMG’s confidential report in closed session during a Special Meeting held on July 21, 2025, in Council Chambers at Red Deer County Centre.
“After a very thorough investigation, we are pleased to finally be able to provide an open and transparent statement to our public that KPMG identifies the following deficiencies,” said Mayor Jim Wood.
While some allegations were determined not to be true, and some of the more serious allegations were not substantiated, KPMG did find a pattern of instances of non-compliance with the County’s internal procurement policies and procedures, including:
• Issuing verbal change orders where County policy required all change orders to be in writing
• Not completing a process of independent market assessments on a series of works performed under a services agreement after having publicly committed to do so
• Failing to communicate in the manner committed to in the tender documents
• Using hourly rate pre-qualified vendors and standing offer agreements for work above the procurement value thresholds set out in County policy ($9,999 and $29,999 respectively)
• Not adequately documenting and addressing potential conflicts of interest
• Not adequately documenting delegations of signing authority when individuals were assuming an acting role in the absence of a County official and signing/authorizing beyond their delegated authority limits
• Failing to include a required piece of work within the scope of certain public tenders resulting in the additional work subsequently being sole sourced to the original successful bidder
• Underestimating the volume of works on some unit price tenders
• Maintaining purchases below certain thresholds avoiding procurement processes that involved additional steps
• Failing to accumulate volumes of business or failing to combine similar works
• Failing to submit into County records certain quotes received, bid evaluations and scoring sheets on some public tenders and other procurements
• Failing to prepare or maintain services contracts in several instances required under County policy
“Council takes these findings by KPMG very seriously and looks forward to reviewing these findings with the Chief Administrative Officer on a path moving forward,” said Mayor Wood.
While KPMG also identified events that may have contributed to a perception that certain tender selection processes and the awarding of work were somehow unfair and favoured certain vendors, the investigators concluded the awarding of additional work to the successful proponent was contemplated in the public procurement documents and contract language.
An allegation of spending exceeding the Council approved budget on one large capital project was also reviewed. KPMG found spending was in line with or under the cumulative budget approved by Council, except for fiscal year 2022 in which the budget was overspent by $23,266. This overspend was subsequently formally reported and the variance report accepted by Council as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Variance Report.
KPMG was initially retained by Red Deer County in December 2023 to examine several concerns brought to the attention of the County. In March 2024, KPMG was retained by external legal counsel, Kingsgate Legal, on behalf of Mayor and Council to conduct an independent forensic investigation into certain allegations related to procurement, contracting and spending at Red Deer County. This is the only public statement Red Deer County Council will be making regarding the investigation’s findings as KPMG’s final report is subject to solicitor-client privilege and will remain confidential.
**With information provided by Red Deer County
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