2.0 Introduction
2 .1 Background1
The Treasury Board (The Board) is a statutory committee of Cabinet, established under the Financial Administration Act. It consists of six ministers, including the President of the Treasury Board (Chairperson) and the Minister of Finance. In June 1997, the Prime Minister designated the Treasury Board as the government's management board. In addition to the traditional roles of the Treasury Board and its Secretariat as employer and expenditure manager, the management board is also expected to have a comprehensive view of government operations and to provide sustained leadership in improving management practices.
The responsibilities of the Treasury Board include:
- As expenditure manager, the Treasury Board is responsible for preparing the government's expenditure budget (the Estimates) that is tabled annually in Parliament, and for monitoring program spending in government departments.
- As the employer, the Board sets the terms and conditions under which the federal public service attracts and retains the staff it needs. Furthermore, the Board is also responsible for the general direction of the federal policies and programs relating to implementation of the provisions on language of service to the public, language of work and the equitable participation of English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians in all federal institutions.
- As management board, the Treasury Board provides policy direction in such areas as access to information, accounting, audit and evaluation, contracting, financial management, information technology, real property, as well as on the management of the government's assets, privacy, security, and personnel management in the public service.
A Treasury Board Submission is an official document submitted by a minister on behalf of her or his department to seek approval or authority from Treasury Board ministers to carry out a proposal that otherwise the department would not be able to undertake, or would be outside its delegated authorities.
The recommendations and advice from the Secretariat on a particular submission are provided to the Treasury Board in documents referred to as précis.
Legislation, Treasury Board policies, or other Cabinet decisions usually establish the requirements for Treasury Board approval.
Typical examples include seeking Treasury Board authority to:
- Allocate resources previously approved by Cabinet or included in the federal Budget;
- Authorize or amend terms and conditions of programs governing grants or contributions;
- Recommend approval of Orders in Council that have resource (e.g. cost recovery) or management implications;
- Carry out a project or initiative, the costs of which would exceed a department's delegated authority;
- Enter into a contract; and,
- Obtain an exemption from Treasury Board policy.
A department may submit a proposal to the Board if it believes that the latter's collective judgement is necessary or desirable.
The table below shows the timelines and process for preparing a submission. Though the shortest possible time to process a submission from start to finish is approximately six weeks, most submissions require several more weeks in order to ensure content is finalized and issues resolved. Two to three months is the average processing time for a Submission. Some departments build in an additional month for submissions requiring inter-departmental consultation or sign-off.
Week |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
1 |
The Secretariat analyst receives draft #1 of Treasury Board submission from department |
The Secretariat analyst provides comments to department |
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2 |
Meeting (if required) to discuss the Secretariat analyst's comments |
The Secretariat analyst receives draft #2 of submission from department |
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3 |
The Secretariat analyst provides further comments to department |
Meeting (if required) to discuss the Secretariat analyst's comments |
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Note: More time may be needed to revise the draft submission further. |
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4 |
Penultimate draft submission due to the Secretariat analyst |
The Secretariat analyst drafts précis and recommendation |
The Secretariat analyst's draft précis due to the Secretariat senior management |
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Submission signed by minister due in SCDC2 by noon |
Briefing books to Treasury Board ministers |
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6 |
Treasury Board meeting |
The Secretariat analyst informs departmental Corporate Services of Treasury Board decision |
2.2 Audit Objectives
The objectives of the audit were to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the Treasury Board Submission process and identify areas of risk within the process for which controls should be in place. The audit included the following:
- Assessing whether the Secretariat's processes are effective in assisting departments and other government agencies with the preparation of submissions.
- Reviewing the existence and effectiveness of policies and controls in place to ensure appropriate, timely analysis and recommendations are made to the Board.
- Assessing if resources appear to be adequate and effective in undertaking the Treasury Board Submission process.
2.3 Audit Scope
The scope of the audit included the Secretariat's processes supporting its role to assist departments with the preparation of their Submissions and the work done by TBS analysts to prepare the précis and Submission for presentation to Treasury Board. For purposes of the audit, the Treasury Board Submission process included all the activities performed by the Treasury Board Secretariat:
- Prior to a formal submission being submitted by a department; and
- Once a formal Treasury Board submission from a department has been received by the Secretariat.
This audit assessed whether controls were in place to ensure identified risks are addressed and that there is integrity throughout the entire process. It also assessed whether the Secretariat's processes are effective in assisting organizations with the preparation of submissions. Ministerial views on the quality of the advice and recommendations were not sought.
2.4 Audit Approach / Methodology
The following table provides a high level overview of the different activities that Ernst & Young undertook to conduct the internal audit of the Treasury Board Submission process.
Approach and Work plan |
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Activity 1: Perform preliminary planning for the audit |
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Activity 2: Obtain an overall understanding of the Process. |
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Activity 3: Identify and Assess Risks |
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Activity 4: Finalize and Report |
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