The Canadian government is withholding the remainder of its $18.3 million (CAD$24 million) investment into North after The Verge reported that the company laid off 150 employees this week. North is also being asked to return the money it’s already received from the investment. The funding withdrawal was first reported by Canada-based publication The Logic.

The 19-year-old says he believed the documents he plucked from Nova Scotia's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act web portal were "free to just download."