An apology was sent to the candidate as well the incumbent in the role through a third party. Wow, certainly not the North American way.
Needless to say this an awful situation. It is disgusting for the candidate who wasted 3 weeks of time preparing and participating in meetings that were not going to result in potential employment. It was clear there is no active role available. Awful for the current team in both Canada and the U.S. as the same thing was done with a U.S. candidate a week before.