Deloitte report for Newfoundland government found to have apparently false citations

A statue of John Cabot stares out to sea from the foot of the steps of Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial legislature building, in St. John's, Aug. 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sarah Smellie (Sarah Smellie)

ST. JOHN’S — The Newfoundland and Labrador government has asked Deloitte to check its work after the company submitted a report containing erroneous citations.

A Health Department spokesperson says the consulting firm acknowledged the citations were wrong, but it stands by its 526-page staffing plan for the province’s health sector.

Brian Scott says the department will take appropriate steps once the contractor finishes its promised review of the flawed citations.

A story from online news outlet The Independent on Saturday highlighted several citations in the report which appeared not to exist.

The story quoted a researcher at Dalhousie University who said the Deloitte report cited an article with her as the author that did not exist.

Last month, Deloitte Australia said it would partially refund the Australian government for a report that was littered with apparent AI-generated errors and references to nonexistent academic research papers.

With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2025.