Special Examination Report—National Gallery of Canada

At a Glance Special Examination Report—National Gallery of Canada

What we examined (see Focus of the audit)

The National Gallery of Canada is a federal Crown corporation with a mandate under the Museums Act to develop, maintain, and make known, throughout Canada and internationally, a collection of works of art, both historic and contemporary, with special but not exclusive reference to Canada. It also has a mandate to further knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment of art in general among all Canadians. The Corporation reports to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Our objective for this audit was to determine whether the systems and practices we selected for examination at the National Gallery of Canada were providing it with reasonable assurance that its assets were safeguarded and controlled, its resources were managed economically and efficiently, and its operations were carried out effectively as required by section 138 of the Financial Administration Act.

Overall message

We found that the Corporation had a significant deficiency in how it managed collection conservation. Some requirements of its Conservation Policy were not met. For example, it did not have an approved plan for the conservation of technology-dependent art objects. We also found that the Corporation lacked written formal procedures and guidelines for the approval, documentation, and review of treatment-related activities, and for ensuring that such activities were accurately tracked and reported. We noted that the Corporation had some good conservation-related practices, such as controlling environmental conditions and access to its collection.

What we found about …

Corporate management practices

Management of operations

Entity Responses to Recommendations

The Corporation agrees with our recommendations and has responded (see List of Recommendations).

Related information

Report of the Auditor General of Canada
Type of product Special Examination
Topics
Entities
Completion date 11 March 2019
Tabling date 8 July 2020

For more information

Media Relations
Telephone: 1-888-761-5953
E-mail: infomedia@oag-bvg.gc.ca

National Gallery of Canada—Report of the Auditor General of Canada—2019