Office of the Auditor General of Canada—Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended 30 September 2019

Office of the Auditor General of Canada Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended 30 September 2019

Statement outlining results, risks, and significant changes in operations, personnel, and program

Introduction

This quarterly report has been prepared by management as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act and in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board, and it should be read in conjunction with the Main Estimates. This quarterly report has not been subject to an external audit or review.

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) has 1 program activity: legislative auditing. The OAG conducts independent audits and studies that provide objective information, advice, and assurance to Parliament, government, and Canadians.

Mandate

The Auditor General is an Officer of Parliament, who is independent from the government and reports directly to Parliament. The duties are set out in the Auditor General Act, the Financial Administration Act, and other acts and orders-in-council. These duties relate to legislative auditing and, in certain cases, to monitoring of federal departments and agencies, Crown corporations, territorial governments, and other entities.

Basis of presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the OAG’s spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the OAG, consistent with the Main Estimates for the 2019–20 fiscal year. This quarterly report provides financial information on the use of spending authorities. The OAG uses the full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual financial statements that are part of the departmental results reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

Highlights of quarterly and year-to-date results

The authorities available for use increased to address economic and management salary increases ($2.0 million), associated increases in statutory employee benefits ($0.2 million), and the increase in the authorities carried forward from the previous year ($1.2 million).

Figure 1—text version

Authorities available and used as at 30 September
(in millions of dollars)

Authorities available and used as at 30 September (in millions of dollars)

	AvailableNote *	Year to date used
2019–20	91.2	40.5
2018–19	87.8	40.0

Figure 2—text version

Authorities used in the quarter ended 30 September
(in millions of dollars)

• 2019–20: 20.3
• 2018–19: 19.7

Risks and uncertainties

The OAG did not receive any of the additional permanent funding it had requested in the 2019 federal budget. As a result, we have eliminated performance audits that had been planned, and we will continue to defer certain audit-related work in both our performance audit and financial audit practices. Without additional funding, we will also not be able to make the investments in new technologies or audit approaches that are necessary to prepare the OAG for the future.

Significant changes in operations, personnel, and program

Andrew Hayes, Deputy Auditor General, was appointed Interim Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development in September 2019, following the retirement of Julie Gelfand.

Also in September 2019, the OAG appointed an internal ombudsman to provide a confidential, impartial environment for employees and managers to have informal conversations about workplace matters and to explore options for resolving them.

Approved by:

Ottawa, Canada
29 November 2019

Statement of authorities (unaudited)
(in thousands of dollars)

Departmental budgetary expenditures by standard object (unaudited)
(in thousands of dollars)