2023 Special Examination—Canadian Museum of HistoryWeaknesses in conservation practices pose risks to collections at the Canadian Museum of History
Ottawa, 10 August 2023—The Canadian Museum of History published the report of a special examination completed by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. The audit examined how the Canadian Museum of History, a federal Crown corporation, carried out its corporate management practices and managed its operations. The corporation manages collections of more than 4 million objects within 2 museums in Canada’s National Capital Region: the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum.
The audit found several weaknesses that amounted to a significant deficiency in the corporation’s conservation practices that expose the objects in its collections to various risks. For example, the corporation did not have robust inventory management systems and practices. The audit found that more than 800 items were declared as missing through several inventory verifications conducted by the corporation between 2012 and 2022, more than 300 items lacked proper storage, and more than 15,000 items had no source information. The corporation did not have any plans to deal with these issues.
The audit also found that there was a lack of regular and systematic reviews of staff’s electronic security access to various locations, including vaults and other places where collections were stored. These findings matter because proper conservation and safeguarding help maintain historical artifacts for future generations, which is a fundamental component of the corporation’s mandate.
In examining corporate management practices, the audit found good practices for corporate governance, strategic planning, and risk management, although opportunities for improvement were flagged in each area.
In summary, except for the significant deficiency in the corporation’s collections conservation practices and despite other weaknesses found by the audit, the corporation reasonably maintained systems and practices to carry out its mandate.
A special examination is an audit of a federal Crown corporation conducted by the Auditor General of Canada. Under the Financial Administration Act, federal Crown corporations are subject to a special examination by the Auditor General at least once every 10 years. These audits examine the systems and practices of a Crown corporation that are key to providing it with reasonable assurance that its assets are safeguarded and controlled, its resources are managed economically and efficiently, and its operations are carried out effectively. Special examination reports are therefore a source of important information that parliamentarians can use to hold Crown corporations to account.
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The Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of History is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada website.
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