2013–14 Performance Report and 2015–16 Report on Plans and Priorities of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Opening Statement to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts

2013–14 Performance Report and 2015–16 Report on Plans and Priorities of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada

4 May 2015

Michael Ferguson, CPA, CA
FCA (New Brunswick)
Auditor General of Canada

Mr. Chair, we are pleased to be here and would like to thank you for this opportunity to discuss our 2013–14 Performance Report and our 2015–16 Report on Plans and Priorities. With me today is Sylvain Ricard, Assistant Auditor General of Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer, Lucie Cardinal our Comptroller, and Kimberly Leblanc, Director of Human Resources Services.

Our financial audits, performance audits, special examinations of Crown corporations, and the work of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development serve Parliament by supporting its oversight of government spending and performance. In the 2013–14 fiscal year, the period covered by our most recent performance report, we completed 100 financial audits, 2 special examinations, and 29 performance audits, and we began work on the audit of senators’ expenses.

All of our audits are conducted in accordance with Canadian Auditing Standards and Canadian Standards on Quality Control. We subject our audits and System of Quality Control to internal practice reviews and monitoring, and to periodic external reviews, to provide assurance that you can rely on the quality of our work.

2013–14 Performance Report

In the 2013–14 fiscal year, we used $84.3 million of the $88.3 million of parliamentary appropriations available to us. We had a budget of 576 full-time equivalent employees and employed the equivalent of 573 full-time employees.

With these resources, we completed all planned audit work except for one performance audit, on workforce adjustment measures, which was cancelled. In addition, we completed a previously unplanned performance audit, a follow-up on child and family services in Nunavut.

Our 2013–14 Performance Report contains a number of indicators of the impact of our work and measures of our operational performance. The tables containing our targets and actual performance results are attached to this statement as Appendix A.

We followed up on 10 performance audit recommendations and found that entities had made satisfactory progress in implementing 5 of them, or 50 percent, which is below our target of 75 percent.

In our 2013–14 Performance Report, we noted that 21 percent of our performance audits were reviewed by parliamentary committees, compared with 30 percent in the 2012–13 fiscal year and 48 percent in the 2011–12 fiscal year. Recently, a hearing about one additional audit has taken place, bringing the result to 24 percent.

Although our measures of organizational performance remained generally positive, we did not meet our on-budget targets for performance audits and special examinations. Our result for performance audits was significantly affected by three audits with relatively small budgets. The one special examination that was over budget had a more decentralized operational management than anticipated, leading to increased audit effort.

Our practice reviews serve as a key quality control in our audit methodology. In all cases, these reviews found the audit reports we issued to be appropriate and supported by proper evidence. However, our reviews also identified a need to improve the documentation of the nature and extent of oversight by senior auditors in some of our files.

2015–16 Report on Plans and Priorities

Looking forward, we are always seeking opportunities to improve our products and operations. In the 2015–16 fiscal year, we will continue activities to maximize the value of our audits and will seek further efficiencies in our audit processes. We will focus most of our improvement efforts on the following three priorities.

First, we will implement new senior management roles and responsibilities for our audits. This implementation will lead to more streamlined decision making and ensure that decision making can occur at the most appropriate level in the organization. We will also be completing a review of the Office’s governance framework to allow us to implement one better suited to support the new roles and responsibilities, and our operational needs.

Second, in support of the new roles and responsibilities, we will be updating our professional development and official languages plans. Updating our professional development plan will ensure that we provide our staff with the training and development opportunities they need to meet their new responsibilities. Updating our official languages plan will ensure that we support our staff in their efforts to maintain or meet the language requirements of their positions.

Third, to ensure that decision making is occurring at the most appropriate level in the organization, we must empower our employees to make decisions about their work. We have surveyed our employees to assess their level of empowerment, and we will be developing actions to respond to their feedback.

Having completed the review of our strategic plan and objectives, we are well into our review of the related performance indicators that we will use to manage the Office and to report to you on our performance. Many of the indicators remain unchanged, although we have added some important new ones in the areas of our independence, financial management, audit selection, internal service standards, and development and management of our people. Tables containing our renewed performance measures have been attached to this statement as Appendix B.

For the 2015-16 fiscal year we are requesting parliamentary appropriations of $78.3 million in our main estimates. Our planned number of full-time equivalent employees is 557. With these resources, we expect to complete more than 95 financial audits, 21 performance audits, and 5 special examinations, and to report on our audit of senators’ expenses.

In conclusion, Mr. Chair, my staff and I look forward to providing you with valuable assurance, information, and advice in the coming year. We thank you for your ongoing support of our work.

Thank you Mr. Chair. We would be pleased to answer your questions.

Appendix A—Targets and Actual Performance Results (2013–14 Performance Report)

Appendix B—Renewed Performance Measures (2015–16 Report on Plans and Priorities)

Internal perspective: strategic objectives, indicators, and targets