A damning investigation into a medical staffing agency's billing practices has uncovered what provincial watchdogs are calling "potential fraud" — with evidence suggesting the same travel nurses were simultaneously charged to taxpayers for electric vehicles, taxis, rental cars, and airline tickets.
Canadian Health Labs (CHL), which supplies travel nurses to Newfoundland and Labrador's health authority, submitted invoices showing a single nurse was provided with an electric vehicle rental for 175 consecutive days in 2023 at $1,127 per week — while the same individual was also billed for flights, separate car rentals, and daily taxi service to the hospital.
Multiple Charges, One Nurse
An analysis of roughly 600 pages of billing records obtained through access to information requests reveals a troubling pattern. During the same period the EV charges were submitted, taxpayers were also billed for a two-week flight for the nurse to leave the province, 29 days of taxi rides to and from the hospital in Gander, and a separate two-week Hertz car rental totalling $2,161.
The overlap raises a critical question: why would a single travel nurse require all these forms of transportation simultaneously?
The situation worsened when investigators discovered the pattern wasn't isolated. At least five other nurses had EV rental charges that continued after airlines tickets had already been purchased to fly them out of the province.
Watchdog's Red Flags
Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general flagged the discrepancies in a June 2025 report, noting "strong indications of potential billing fraud." The report also found that health authority staff approved the invoices without ever reviewing CHL's actual contract with the agency — meaning they had no basis to verify if the charges were even permitted.
"It's not clear why all those claims were filed in the name of the same travel nurse — and whether multiple expenses like those were permitted under the agency's contract with the health authority," the auditor general's office noted in its findings.
Agency Denies Wrongdoing
When asked for comment, CHL pushed back against the allegations. "We have completed a thorough internal review of the matters referenced and are satisfied that NLHS was billed accurately for services provided," the company stated.
The statement did little to address the specific overlaps documented in the invoices, leaving questions about accountability unanswered.
The EV rental charges came through an affiliated company — raising additional concerns about related-party transactions and potential self-dealing arrangements that may not have been fully disclosed to the health authority.
What Happens Next?
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services initially resisted releasing the nurses' names to protect privacy, but reversed course last fall following a complaint to the provincial information commissioner. That reversal opened the door for this investigation.
The case highlights systemic vulnerabilities in how government agencies oversee contractor billing, particularly when third-party staffing firms handle transportation logistics. Without robust contract reviews and invoice verification processes, taxpayers remain vulnerable to overlapping charges and questionable expenses.
This article is based on reporting originally published by CBC News through its Investigates program, which obtained the detailed billing records through access to information requests.