OTTAWA—Library and Archives Canada say they scrapped a $15.4 million digital archive system because it would have been “too costly” to run.

The archival department spent five years and over $15 million to develop its own “trusted digital repository” — a system for storing and preserving digital records — before shuttering the system in 2012. That was one year after it was tested, approved and operational, but never used by the agency.

A report from auditor general Michael Ferguson’s office, released Tuesday, found that the record-keeping department had no records on the decision to scrap the system.

“The trusted digital repository was shut down in November 2012 without documentation from management on the rationale for the decision,” the audit report stated.

“Officials at Library and Archives Canada explained to us that the institution had changed its approach from a customer-developed solution and was planning to implement a hybrid approach, which would include a commercially available option.”

The Star requested an interview with Library and Archives Canada for this article. In a prepared statement, the agency said that as it neared completion of the in-house system, they realized it would be too costly to run.

“This was especially true given that more advanced off-the-shelf systems that could better serve Canadians were now available to purchase,” wrote spokesman Richard Provencher. “This decision was also consistent with the emerging need for government-wide compatibility and enterprise approach for such systems.”

The finding was one of several concerns uncovered by auditors examining Library and Archives Canada’s ability to keep up with its mandate in an increasingly digital world.

The audit found that the agency is largely unprepared for the deluge of digital files it anticipates receiving from federal departments, with electronic records expected to be Ottawa’s preferred format by 2017.

At the same time, the agency is struggling under a backlog of hard copy files. At the time of the audit, Library and Archives Canada had 98,000 boxes of unsorted files, including 24,000 boxes of military records. Some of those documents date back to 1890.

Provencher said the agency has managed to process about 20 per cent of those boxes since the audit was conducted.

“The challenge of processing this volume of material in a timely way has always been part of our reality, as it is for any other national library or archives in the world,” Provencher wrote.

“The department is now reallocating internal resources and taking a more aggressive approach to eliminate this backlog by the end of 2015, and putting in place measures to prevent future backlogs.”

Library and Archives Canada, the department charged with safekeeping documents of national interest, cut spending from around $125 million in 2009-2010 to a projected $96 million in 2014-2015. The Conservatives’ 2012 budget required the department to trim spending by $9.6 million annually.

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The quiet department rarely appears in the news, but made headlines in 2013 when it was revealed the department’s former head, Daniel Caron, charged taxpayers with $174,000 in expenses over two years.

Guy Berthiaume, the former CEO of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, was appointed as the country’s top librarian in April.