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The Honourable Jim Flaherty, P.C., MP
Minister of Finance
Message from the Auditor General of Canada
Management representation statement
Who we are
What we do: Legislative auditing
Who receives our reports
What our governance structure is
How we are held accountable
Section II—Strategic framework and planning priorities
Our strategic framework and results chain
Our program activity
Our planning priorities
Our plans and performance targets
Section III—Supplementary information
Organizational information
Our strategic outcome and results chain
Our performance measures, indicators, and targets
2007-08 Selected sustainable development commitments and targets
Our planned performance audits
Our planned special examinations
Financial tables
Website references
I am pleased to present my Office's Report on Plans and Priorities for 2007–08.
As the Government of Canada's auditor, the role of the Office of the Auditor General is to assist Parliament in its oversight of government spending and operations. In other words, we help elected representatives to hold the government to account. We do this by providing fact-based information obtained through independent audits of federal departments, agencies, and most Crown corporations, which Parliament can use in its scrutiny of government spending and performance. Following professional standards, we examine the government's activities to determine whether it is carrying them out with due regard to economy, efficiency, and environmental impact, and whether it has measures in place to determine how effective they are. In addition to these performance audits, we conduct special examinations of Crown corporations, which are a type of performance audit. Our special examination reports are provided to the corporation's board of directors, and include an opinion on whether there is reasonable assurance that there are no significant deficiencies in the corporation's systems and practices. We also conduct annual financial audits of the Public Accounts of Canada, each of the three territories, and federal and territorial Crown corporations. We also conduct performance audits in the territories. In 2007–08, we plan to report the findings of 28 performance audits, 11 special examinations, and 130 financial audits.
The coming years provide us with significant challenges. Not only will our workload increase because of recent additions to our Crown corporation and performance audit mandates, but our audit work will also become more complex. We will have to adjust to new accounting and auditing standards, as well as an expected move to international standards. At the same time, 40 percent of our executives and 30 percent of their replacement group will be eligible to retire by 2009; the pressure to recruit and retain a strong employee base will increase as we will be competing with other federal organizations and the private sector.
We have set four priorities for ourselves over the coming year.
First, we will need to implement our expanded mandate. In 2005, federally funded foundations were added to our list for performance audits, three Crown corporations were added to our list for financial audits, and seven Crown corporations were added to our list for special examinations. In 2006 Parliament authorized us to "follow the dollar" to individuals, firms, partnerships, and corporations that have received at least $1 million, in government funds over five years, though we intend to only rarely conduct "follow the dollar" audits.
Second, we will need to continue to ensure the quality of our audits by integrating new accounting and auditing standards in our audit practices.
Third, we plan to contribute to best practices in accountability, good governance, and effective public service by addressing the potential overload of controls in government. As I stated in 2006,
Our audit work . . . generally confirms that programs and activities cannot be error-proofed by building a web of controls, rules, and regulations into their design to ward off risk. In fact, where the risks are weighed and managed, intelligent risk taking is vital to any innovative, successful organization. Programs that are mired in controls and reporting requirements are not programs that focus most of their efforts and resources on improving the lives of Canadians. In several of the areas [audited in the last few years], we see a need for the government to review whether programs have too many rules and whether their administration could be streamlined to improve delivery. In many respects, the government needs fewer rules, but rules that are consistently applied.
Finally, in dealing with recruitment and retention of our staff, we will implement a multi-year recruitment and retention strategy and our new corporate action plan to maintain the positive results from our 2006 employee survey.
In addition to the strategic challenges identified above, our 2007–09 Sustainable Development Strategy reconfirms our efforts to integrate environmental and sustainable development issues in our audits of government activities.
To address all these challenges and implement our priorities, we are seeking an increase of $4 million in our funding for 2007–08 and future years, and about $2 million for one-time investments in technology. Our request has been reviewed by the Parliamentary Panel on the Funding of Officers of Parliament, who has recommended that we be provided with the additional funding. We thank the panel and Parliament for their continued confidence in our work.
We define how we conduct our work and ourselves by our set of values. We serve the public interest with independence and objectivity. We are committed to excellence and to providing a respectful workplace. We aim at sustaining public confidence by conducting ourselves, in everything we do, with honesty and integrity and in a manner that meets the highest standards of professional conduct. We strive to be a model organization for the federal government, by leading by example.
Our most recent employee survey indicated that 82 percent of staff believe that the Office is a good place to work. Our goal is to continue to strengthen our people management skills and processes, while meeting our responsibilities to Parliament.
The challenges ahead are significant, but I am confident that our dedicated and competent staff will pull together and meet them.
Sheila Fraser, FCA
Auditor General of Canada
12 February 2007
We submit, for tabling in Parliament, the 2007–08 Report on Plans and Priorities for the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. Management of the Office is responsible for preparing this report, which
The Office's Executive Committee oversees the preparation of the report, and approves it based on the advice of the Office's Audit Committee.
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Sheila Fraser, FCA |
Jean Landry, CGA |
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Ottawa, Canada 12 February 2007 |
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The Auditor General is an Officer of Parliament. She is independent from the government and reports directly to Parliament (Exhibit 1). She leads a dedicated team of some 600 professionals and support staff located in five offices across the country.
Exhibit 1—The Auditor General's role as an Agent of Parliament |
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The Auditor General Act, the Financial Administration Act, and other acts and orders-in-council set out the duties of the Auditor General. These duties relate to legislative auditing and monitoring of federal departments and agencies, Crown corporations, territorial governments, and other entities that include international organizations.
Objectivity and independence. Maintaining our objectivity and independence from the organizations we audit is critical. Our independence is assured by a broad legislative mandate, freedom from certain government controls, and a 10-year mandate for the Auditor General.
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada conducts independent audits and studies that provide objective information, advice, and assurance to Parliament, territorial legislatures, government, and Canadians. With our reports and testimony at parliamentary hearings, we assist Parliament and territorial legislatures in their work related to the authorization and oversight of government spending and operations.
Our major subactivities. Legislative auditing, our main activity, consists of eight subactivities, two of these—professional practices and audit services—are supporting activities (see Exhibit 2 for further details of the six other subactivities).
The focus of our audits. We are responsible for carrying out audits and studies of the organizations to answer many important questions on behalf of Parliament and, in turn, Canadians at large.
Performance audits. Performance audits examine, against established criteria, whether government programs are being managed with due regard for economy, efficiency, and environmental impact, and whether measures are in place to determine their effectiveness. Our reports contain recommendations to address the most serious deficiencies identified.
The Auditor General Act gives the Office discretion to determine what areas of government to examine when doing performance audits. We may decide to audit a single government program or activity, such as pesticide regulation; an area of responsibility that involves several departments or agencies, such as the protection of cultural heritage; or an issue that affects many departments, such as the security of information technology. We consider requests for audits received from parliamentary committees; however, the ultimate decision about what to audit rests with the Auditor General.
The Office does not audit policy, nor any areas under the exclusive jurisdiction of provincial or municipal governments.
Financial audits. Our financial audits provide assurance that financial statements are presented fairly in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles or other relevant standards. Where required, we provide assurance that organizations comply with the key legislative authorities that govern their activities. We conduct financial audits of federal and territorial Crown corporations and other organizations, and financial audits of the summary financial statements of the Government of Canada and the financial statements of each of the three territories.
If issues or opportunities for improvement come to our attention during our financial audit work, we make recommendations to management and the boards of directors in areas such as financial reporting and internal controls.
Special examinations. A special examination assesses the financial management control and information systems and management practices of a Crown corporation and provides an opinion on whether there is reasonable assurance that there are no significant deficiencies. The Financial Administration Act requires all Crown corporations to have a special examination of their organization conducted by the Office once every five years, except for the Bank of Canada, which is not required to have a special examination and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which, under its Act, is subject to a special examination by a private sector firm. The Office performs about 40 examinations over each five-year period. We refer to each five-year period as a "cycle."
Our primary responsibility is to Parliament, and our relationship with parliamentarians is key to our effectiveness. However, certain of our reports are also provided to other groups as detailed below.
Parliamentary standing committees. The Auditor General's main relationship is with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts. In turn, much of the work of the Public Accounts Committee draws on the work of the Office. The Senate Standing Committee on National Finance and other parliamentary committees also rely on our work.
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, the Senate Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources, and other committees draw on the work of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, who leads the environmental audit function within the Office.
Our performance audits are tabled in Parliament and published up to four times a year in the reports of the Auditor General of Canada and the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. We report our opinion and observations on the summary financial statements of the Government of Canada in the "Public Accounts of Canada, Volume 1" and publish reports on the use of financial information and other significant issues in the Auditor General's reports to Parliament.
Other Recipients. Financial auditors' reports on Crown corporations are addressed to the appropriate Minister and published annually in the annual reports of these organizations. Financial auditors' reports of other federal organizations are generally addressed to the minister or the head of the Corporation or other interested parties.
Financial auditors' reports on territorial governments and reports on other matters are published and presented to the territorial legislatures. These reports are discussed in hearings of the Yukon Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Nunavut Standing Committee on Government Operations and Accountability, and the Northwest Territories Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. Our opinion on the financial statements of the territorial governments is published annually in the public accounts of the territorial governments of Nunavut, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories.
Our special examination reports are addressed to the boards of directors of the corporations involved. The legislation also states that we should bring the information in the report to the attention of the appropriate minister and of Parliament when we deem it appropriate. We do this in situations when, for example, certain types of significant deficiencies are present, such as those related to mandate issues, issues that only the government can address, issues of a governance nature, and when problems, previously reported, continue to occur.
The Auditor General. The Auditor General leads the Office, and as an Officer of Parliament, is accountable to Parliament for the Office's performance.
The Executive Committee. The Executive Committee provides overall professional and administrative direction for the Office. It sets policy and oversees all aspects of management and operations in the Office. It comprises the Auditor General, the Deputy Auditor General, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, and 11 assistant auditors general.
External advice. The Auditor General receives advice from a number of committees with external members.
The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development receives advice from one external committee:
Audit advisory committees. These committees advise on the objectives and approach of performance audits or special examinations, and on significant matters and findings to be reported. Members are experts with relevant experience from inside and outside the Office with a variety of backgrounds such as former senior public servants, and leading representatives from the private sector, academia, and First Nations.
Further information on the Office's organization is available in the organization chart in Section III and on our website under About Us.
Who audits the Auditor General? Each year, an external auditor appointed by the Treasury Board audits the Office's financial statements. Our financial statements are prepared on a full accrual basis of accounting, in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles.
These financial statements are included in our performance report, which is submitted to the President of the Treasury Board for tabling in the House of Commons.
The Auditor General's reports are reviewed and discussed in hearings of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and 15 other parliamentary committees.
The Office is also subject to scrutiny by the Official Languages Commissioner on language issues, by the Public Service Commission on staffing and classification practices, by the Privacy Commissioner on adherence to the Privacy Act, and by the Canadian Human Rights Commission on the Office's compliance with the Employment Equity Act.
Who reviews our funding? The Auditor General prepares annual Estimates documents and the President of the Treasury Board submits them to Parliament. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts calls on the Auditor General to explain the Estimates for the Office and to discuss our report on plans and priorities, our performance report, and our management practices.
The Office is funded by Parliament, in the same manner as government departments. Historically, like government departments, we negotiated the level of funding with the Treasury Board Secretariat, one of the organizations we audit. However, this process was not considered to be sufficiently independent to ensure that our budget is appropriate for meeting Parliament's expectations.
In 2005, the government committed to implementing a pilot project for a new funding and oversight mechanism for the 2006–07 and 2007–08 Estimates processes for all officers of Parliament. The new mechanism, involving a parliamentary oversight panel, seeks to respect the role of Parliament and the independence and distinct mandates of its officers, and also to reflect the responsibility of the government for sound stewardship of public resources.
When an Officer of Parliament develops a submission for the Treasury Board, the panel reviews both the submission and Treasury Board Secretariat's assessment of the submission. The panel then provides advisory recommendations for consideration by the Treasury Board.
The Auditor General appeared before the panel in November 2006, requesting approximately $4 million in additional, ongoing funding and about $2 million in one-time funding. The panel unanimously agreed to recommend the requested funding increases to the Treasury Board. This increase in funding is reflected in the financial tables presented later in this Report on Plans and Priorities.
Who assesses our audit methodologies? Our audit work is guided by a rigorous methodology and quality management framework. The framework provides reasonable assurance that our audits are conducted in accordance with established standards of professional practice.
To ensure that our quality management framework is suitably designed and operating effectively, we subject it to external reviews by peers. We also conduct internal practice reviews. We publish summaries of our practice reviews and peer reviews on our website under About Us.
The provincial institutes of chartered accountants review our compliance with professional standards for financial audits, in order to determine whether our training of chartered accounting students meets their requirements. These reviews have concluded that we are following professional standards and meeting their training requirements.
We conduct internal audits of our management and administration practices to assure the Auditor General that the Office is complying with government and Office policies. They also provide managers with assessments and recommendations. We normally conduct one internal audit per year. Executive summaries are published on our website.
The long-term strategic outcome of the Office of the Auditor General is to contribute to better managed government programs and better accountability to Parliament through our legislative auditing. We use a results chain to describe our strategic outcome and to show how we expect to make a difference. The results chain links what we do (conduct audits and other assessments) and what we deliver (audits, studies, opinions, information, and advice) to the results we expect to achieve in the short, medium, and long terms. It also describes the various stakeholders and their contributions to improving government operations (see Section III—Supplementary information).
The strategic framework of the Office of the Auditor General presents our vision and our values that guide our work (Exhibit 3).
The Office has one program activity—legislative auditing. Legislative auditing, as noted earlier, consists of eight subactivities, two of which are supporting activities: professional practices and audit services. The four largest subactivities are
(1) performance audits and studies;
(2) the audit of the summary financial statements of the Government of Canada;
(3) financial audits of Crown corporations, territorial governments, and other organizations; and
(4) special examinations of Crown corporations.
Table 2 under Section III—Financial tables provides summary information on the Office's financial and human resources and subactivities.
The Office has identified four strategic challenges that were taken into consideration when setting out the planning priorities for the coming year.
Integrating changes to professional standards. A crucial aspect of the Office's success is the calibre and professionalism of its staff. All staff must be fully trained, apprised of new developments at the professional level, and within the public service, and provided with clear guidance as to how to carry out their work.
With this objective in mind, the Office has committed to four areas of activity for the coming fiscal year.
Integrating changes to our mandate. The Office has recently had to take into consideration additional factors in its audit selection and planning efforts. In 2005, Parliament expanded the mandate of the Office through the Budget Implementation Act. This Act amends both the Auditor General Act and the Financial Administration Act—the main pieces of legislation that govern our work.
The Office will integrate these mandate changes into the risk assessment and audit planning cycle during the coming year.
As a result of the expanded mandate and other new and additional work, the Office is seeking an increase in funding for 2007–08 of approximately $4 million for ongoing expenses and about $2 million for one-time investments in technology. This additional funding will be used for work related to the following:
Contributing to good practices in accountability, governance, and effective public service. From time to time, we note issues or trends that emerge from a number of our audits. One current example is the weight of controls and reporting requirements impacting the delivery of federal government programs. In many respects, we believe that fewer rules, but rules that are consistently applied, would be more effective. In the coming year, the Office will identify options as to how it might appropriately contribute to addressing this issue.
Investing in recruitment and retention. In the coming years, the Office will need to strengthen its recruitment and retention efforts. Workload will increase due to an expanded audit mandate. Rising turnover and retirement rates and increased recruitment by federal departments will add to the demand for available talent. The Office has started developing a multi-year recruitment and retention strategy to respond to these pressures. The strategy will be accompanied by additional investment in methodology and training.
An employee survey carried out in 2006 indicated that 82 percent of staff believe that the Office is a good place to work and that 92 percent are proud to be a part of the Office. These results were very good, and unlikely to improve. Therefore, our goal is to maintain these satisfaction levels with a particular focus on continuing to strengthen our people management skills and processes. A corporate action plan has been developed that addresses issues in six different areas (Exhibit 4). The employee survey will be repeated every two years.
Working internationally. A further planning priority of the Office for the coming year is our international strategy. The strategy ensures that the Office's involvement with international organizations and in conducting audits of international institutions is aligned with the interests of Parliament and the Government of Canada.
The strategy has the following four goals for the 2007–09 planning period:
The Office is continuing discussions with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada about the role of the Office in the audit of United Nations agencies. Our audit mandate for UNESCO ended in 2006–07. With the support of the department, we have recently submitted a bid to become the auditor of the International Labour Organization (ILO) commencing in 2008.
The Auditor General will conclude her term as the Chair of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). Over the coming year we will be working to ensure a smooth transition with the incoming Chair.
Integrating sustainable development. In addition to the strategic challenges noted above, the Office's 2007–09 Sustainable Development Strategy reconfirms our efforts to integrate environmental and sustainable development issues into our audit planning and conduct. Exhibit 9 under Section III—Supplementary information sets out the Office's key commitments and targets related to sustainable development for the coming year.
Serving Parliament. To best serve Parliament, our primary client, we have set out a parliamentary strategy that includes the following four objectives:
We measure our overall success by surveying parliamentarians and monitoring parliamentary responses to our reports. In 2007, we plan to survey those parliamentarians most closely involved in the review of our reports and to continue administering this survey annually.
One of the most important factors determining whether or not the Office is successfully fulfilling its mission is the degree to which our reports are seen as offering objective assurance and information to Parliament and the government, along with recommendations that guide corrective actions. If the reports reflect the public interest, while maintaining a high degree of independence and objectivity, the Office will be seen as an organization with integrity and as an organization that can be trusted.
To this end, the Office has set out objectives to ensure the usefulness of our reports to parliamentarians. The specific targets related to these objectives are set out in Section III—Supplementary information. The results related to these targets are tracked using a survey of parliamentarians to be carried out annually.
The specific areas of enquiry included on the survey include whether
In addition to the plans and targets set out with respect to our role in serving Parliament, the Office has also established plans and performance targets for each of our four major subactivities: performance audits; financial audits; the audit of the summary financial statements of the Government of Canada (public accounts); and special examinations.
Conducting performance audits. Our performance audits are published up to four times a year in reports of the Auditor General of Canada and the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. In 2007–08, we plan to report on the findings of 28 performance audits.
The Office regularly carries out surveys involving the organizations we audit. The results from these surveys help the Office analyze its performance and plan for any necessary correction or improvements. Following the tabling of a performance audit report, each organization that was subject to these audits is surveyed. The questions cover areas of interest such as
Details of the specific targets related to these areas of study are provided under Section III—Supplementary information.
In addition to our surveys, we also consult with the organizations we audit as part of our planning process. This process is a risk-based approach to audit planning that involves the development of a multi-year audit plan for each significant federal government organization subject to audit. It involves discussions with key senior managers, as well as a review of critical documentation, of the entities subject to audit.
The Office has also established measures and targets to ensure that our performance in terms of delivering reports in accordance with our quality management framework, on time and on budget is being appropriately tracked for the purpose of diagnosis and improvement, should some of the targets be missed. Details of these targets are included under Section III—Supplementary information.
Conducting financial audits. The Office has statutory responsibilities for the audit of the summary financial statements of the Government of Canada, the financial statements of the territorial governments, and the financial statements of federal and territorial Crown corporations and other entities. This year we will conduct more than 130 financial audit and other assurance engagements.
We conduct various surveys of these organizations to measure the perceived relevance and usefulness of our audit work. Every two years, the organizations that have been subject to a financial audit during that period are surveyed.
Details of the specific set targets related to these areas of study as well as to other areas of performance related to the completion of our financial audits are provided under Section III—Supplementary information.
Conducting special examinations. The Office performs about 40 examinations over each five-year period (cycle). We are currently concluding the fourth cycle of special examinations of Crown corporations. In 2007–08 we will report the special examinations of the organizations listed under Section III—Supplementary information.
As with our performance audits and financial audits, the organizations subject to special examinations are surveyed about the relevance and usefulness of our work. Details of the specific set targets related to these surveys, as well as targets related to other areas of management, are provided under Section III—Supplementary information.
Providing a respectful workplace. Our values of a respectful workplace, trust and integrity, and leading by example define how we conduct our work and ourselves. In addition, the Office strongly supports and integrates in all of its human resource activities the values of competency, representativeness, non-partisanship, fairness, employment equity, transparency, flexibility, affordability, and efficiency. Since 2005, 50 percent of managers' performance pay has been tied to their ability to manage their human resources.
The Office is tracking its progress against a set of targets related to creating a respectful workplace. The specifics of these targets are included in Section III—Supplementary information.
Working collaboratively. Within Canada, the Office works with the 10 provincial legislative auditors through the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors (CCOLA) to
Office staff are also involved in many professional organizations in Canada. Currently the Office is represented on two Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants committees, by
Exhibit 5 is an organizational chart showing the management and staff of the Office of the Auditor General.
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The results chain shows the relationship between inputs, activities, outputs, and results (Exhibit 6).
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The performance indicators and targets involve items for which the outcome is not entirely under the control of the Office (Exhibit 7).
Objectives and indicators |
Latest actual |
2006-07 Target |
2007-08 Target |
Our work adds value for the key users of our reports |
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Percentage of parliamentary committee members who find our performance audits add value |
New indicator |
No target established |
75 |
Percentage of audit committee chairs who find our financial audits add value |
771 |
75 |
75 |
Percentage of board chairs who find our special examinations add value |
892 |
No target established |
75 |
Our work adds value for the organizations we audit |
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Percentage of departmental senior managers who find our performance audits add value |
603 |
50 |
65 |
Percentage of Crown corporation and large department senior managers who find our financial audits add value |
661 |
75 |
75 |
Percentage of Crown corporation chief executive officers who find our special examinations add value |
772 |
No target established |
75 |
Key users of our reports and the organizations we audit respond to our findings |
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Percentage of performance audit recommendations reviewed that are endorsed by the Public Accounts Committee |
743 |
75 |
75 |
Percentage of performance audit recommendations implemented four years after their publication |
443 |
No target established |
50 |
Percentage of qualifications that continue from one financial audit to the next |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Percentage of significant deficiencies that continue from one special examination to the next |
102 |
0 |
0 |
Our quality management framework (QMF) is operating effectively |
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Percentage of external peer reviews that find our QMF suitably designed and operating effectively |
100 |
No target established |
100 |
Percentage of internal practice reviews that find our audits in compliance with our quality management frameworks |
1003 |
No target established |
100 |
Key users of our reports are engaged in the audit process |
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Number of parliamentary hearings and briefings we participate in |
333 |
No target established |
No target established |
Percentage of performance audits reviewed by parliamentary committees |
453 |
No target established |
No target established |
1 Average of the results from previous two surveys 2 Results to date from the fourth cycle of special examinations 3 Average of previous three years' results |
The performance measures and targets involve items for which the outcome is largely under the control of the Office (Exhibit 8).
Objectives and measures |
Latest actual |
2006-07 Target |
2007-08 Target |
Our work is delivered on time and on budget |
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On time: |
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Percentage of performance audit reports tabled in the House of Commons on the planned tabling date as published in the RPP |
731 |
No target established |
100 |
Percentage of financial audits completed on time2 |
New measure |
No target established |
100 |
Percentage of special examination reports delivered on or before the statutory deadline |
453 |
No target established |
100 |
On budget: |
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Percentage of audits that meet their budget hours |
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654 |
No target established |
70 |
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541 |
No target established |
70 |
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643 |
No target established |
70 |
Providing a respectful workplace |
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Percentage of employees who believe the Office is either an above-average place to work or one of the best places to work |
82 |
70 |
805 |
Percentage of 1) assistant auditors general, principals and 2) directors in bilingual regions, who meet our language requirements |
1) 62 |
1) 100 |
1) 100 |
2) 58 |
2) 75 |
2) 75 |
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Percentage representation of workforce availability for women; people with disabilities; Aboriginal peoples; members of visible minorities |
105; 108; 74; 68 |
100 |
100 |
Percentage turnover of audit professionals |
14.7 |
10 |
10 |
1 Average of previous two years 2 "On time" means the statutory deadline where one exists (usually 90 days after year end), or 150 days after the year end where no statutory deadline exists. 3 Results to date from the fourth cycle of special examinations 4 Average of previous three years' results 5 The next survey will be conducted in 2008–09. |
Commitment |
Target |
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Finalize the strategic audit plan for the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development |
By 2008 |
100 percent of teams that conduct one-pass plans and performance audits will apply the 4th E Practice Guide |
By the end of 2007 |
Build a small specialist team dedicated to providing environmental and sustainable development advice and audit assistance |
By 2008 |
Provide our auditors with new training on the identification of environmental and sustainable development risks that are applicable to federal government organizations |
Starting in 2007 |
Refine and improve our generic audit criteria for environmental management in Crown corporations |
In 2007 |
Provide enhanced support and advice to audit teams conducting special examinations in 100 percent of cases, where important environmental risks for Crown corporations have been identified |
Starting in 2007 |
May 2007
October 2007
February 2008
February 2007
May 2007
June 2007
November 2007
In 2007–08 we will report the special examinations of the following organizations:
Many items that are of interest but not critical to reporting our performance are available at the following websites.
Office of the Auditor General |
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Sheila Fraser, Auditor General of Canada |
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Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development |
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Auditor General Act |
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Financial Administration Act |
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Reports to Parliament |
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Observations of the Auditor General on the Financial Statements of the Government of Canada |
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Publications |
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Practice review and internal audit reports |
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External review reports |
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Sustainable Development Strategy, 2003–06 |
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Comptrollership Capacity Assessment and Action Plan |
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Parliament |
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Standing Committee on Public Accounts |
http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/committeehome.aspx?lang=1&parlses=381&jnt=0&selid=e17&com=8989 |
Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development |
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Standing Committee on National Finance |
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Committtee_SenHome.asp?Language=E&Parl=39&Ses=1&comm_id=13 |
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat |
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Results for Canadians: A Management Framework for the Government of Canada |
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Results-Based Management and Accountability Framework of the Modern Comptrollership Initiative |
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Treasury Board Secretariat Management Accountability Framework |
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Financial Information Strategy |
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Bank of Canada |
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Canada Pension Plan Investment Board |
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Canadian International Development Agency |
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Government of the Yukon |
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Government of Nunavut |
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Government of the Northwest Territories |
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Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors |
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Canadian Evaluation Society |
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Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants |
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CCAF-FCVI Inc. |
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Environmental Working Group (INTOSAI) |
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Financial Management Institute of Canada |
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Institute of Internal Auditors |
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International Federation of Accountants |
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International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) |
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United Nations Panel of External Auditors |