Special Examinations at a Glance—Chapter 9—Special Examinations of Crown Corporations

Special Examinations at a Glance

Chapter 9—Special Examinations of Crown Corporations—2013

What we examined

Since our 2013 Spring Report to Parliament, the Office of the Auditor General issued reports, which have been made public, on special examinations of the following Crown corporations:

• Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
• Laurentian Pilotage Authority

A special examination is an important accountability mechanism for a Crown corporation. Its objective is to provide an independent opinion on whether there is reasonable assurance that the corporation has systems and practices in place to ensure that

• assets are safeguarded and controlled;
• financial, human, and physical resources are managed economically and efficiently; and
• operations are carried out effectively.

Any major weakness in the key corporate systems and practices that could prevent a corporation from achieving the objectives noted above is reported as a significant deficiency.

What we found

We identified no significant deficiencies in these special examination reports. For the two Crown corporations listed above, we provided recommendations on a range of issues, which included strategic planning, human resources, and management of operations.

The chapter includes the main points of these two special examinations. 

Responses

The Crown corporations agreed with our recommendations.

Why we did these examinations

Under the Financial Administration Act, a Crown corporation must undergo a special examination at least once every 10 years. The objective of this chapter was to bring to the attention of Parliament the results of the Office of the Auditor General’s special examination reports transmitted to the boards of directors of Crown corporations since our 2013 Spring Report.

Details of the audit

For more information, please click here.