{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0474","record_version":1,"title":"Quebec Project UNIR social assistance algorithm failing vulnerable claimants","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":42.5,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":0.0,"completeness":2.24,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":0,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"1dd324b2a66a2e4a8b2489f0ed279d5895f2dcfd45df8ee987610a7d998b1513"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"unknown","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":"simplify and humanize services","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-03-26","incident_class":"operational_error","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"The Quebec Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity launched Project UNIR in 2025, a $31.5-million digital overhaul of the social assistance system built around an algorithm, with the stated aim to simplify and humanize services. Files were split into digital tasks handled by agents across regions instead of a single assigned official. Between February and September 2025, nearly 150,000 calls were rejected and another 94,000 were abandoned, according to ministry data. One recipient, Martine Decoste, says a past administrative error has led the province to reclaim money she has already paid. The ministry's office said the platform has seen no major incidents and that it cannot establish a link between case handling and distress. The problems were identified by a nine-month Radio-Canada investigation that used ministry data, a recording of a government meeting and union surveys.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"moderate","severity_because":"Moderate tier: data and services of others touched, with a bounded scope stated as the eight-month window from February to September 2025","harm_class":[],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-social-assistance-system-project-unir-9.7141921","publisher":"CBC","date":"2026-03-26","type":"press","title":"Inside the $31.5M social assistance algorithm failing Quebec’s most vulnerable - CBC","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.intended_use":"C","event.incident_class":"D","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","context.country":"D","system.developer":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Launched in 2025 by the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity, the project was intended to \"simplify and humanize\" services."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"One year in, the toll is clear: systemic errors, a total breakdown in communication, and an erosion of human connection that once served as a final safeguard."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"During that eight-month window, nearly 150,000 calls were rejected by a saturated system, and another 94,000 were abandoned by callers who gave up after facing excessive wait times without an answer, according to the data."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"During that eight-month window, nearly 150,000 calls were rejected by a saturated system, and another 94,000 were abandoned by callers who gave up after facing excessive wait times without an answer, according to the data."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Launched in 2025 by the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity, the project was intended to \"simplify and humanize\" services."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Decoste is one of thousands caught in the gears of Project UNIR, a $31.5-million digital overhaul of Quebec’s social assistance system."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Now, files are fractioned into distinct digital tasks and assigned to agents across different regions based on their availability."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"During that eight-month window, nearly 150,000 calls were rejected by a saturated system, and another 94,000 were abandoned by callers who gave up after facing excessive wait times without an answer, according to the data."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Decoste says an administrative error has the province trying to reclaim money she's already paid."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"In a statement, a spokesperson for her office said the platform has seen \"no major incidents\" and \"responds more appropriately to the needs of clients.\""},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Instead, a nine-month-long investigation by Radio-Canada’s Enquête reveals a system that community advocates say aggravates poverty and multiplies tragedies."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"The source describes an algorithm but does not state that it was an autonomous agent, so agent_involved, failure_class and autonomy_level are left out. No developer, model version, harness, tools, guardrails or safeguard state are stated. No single occurrence date is given (only a Feb to Sept 2025 window and 2025 launch), so date_occurred is omitted. Date of disclosure is not in the article body (only the header date 2026-03-26), so it is omitted. Detection is attributed to the Radio-Canada investigation as third_party. Root cause category is not stated, so root_cause is omitted; root_cause_detail quotes the reporter's account of missing institutional memory. Responsible_party deployer is my judgement from the ministry deploying the system. Severity moderate is my judgement: a man's suicide is alleged in a recording and linked to a system error by a social worker, but the government disputes any link, so the safety-of-life tier is not used. The count of affected people is only 'thousands', so third_parties_affected_count is omitted. Financial loss amounts are not stated for recipients, and $31.5M is a project cost, not a loss. The 2024 INRS warning is not treated as a failed control. Missing control B1 is my judgement from the removal of human decision-making. No remediations are reported; the ministry's statements deny major incidents. Currency values are in CAD as stated and are not converted. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (Publisher not yet named · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"unknown","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Phone lines were overwhelmed as errors accumulated.","quote":"Between February and September 2025, phone lines were overwhelmed as errors accumulated.","source_index":0,"when":"Between February and September 2025"},{"text":"Nearly 150,000 calls were rejected and 94,000 were abandoned during the eight-month window.","quote":"During that eight-month window, nearly 150,000 calls were rejected by a saturated system, and another 94,000 were abandoned by callers who gave up after facing excessive wait times without an answer, according to the data.","source_index":0,"when":"Between February and September 2025"},{"text":"The ministry contracted a private external firm to handle phones, which the union says risks errors and information leaks.","quote":"To manage the overflow, the ministry spent $2 million on a contract with a private external firm to handle the phones — a move the SFPQ says risks errors and information leaks.","source_index":0,"when":null}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-social-assistance-system-project-unir-9.7141921"]}}