Entity: Employment and Social Development Canada

Context
Many young Canadians face barriers and challenges to enter the labour market. Statistics Canada data shows that as of June 2023, the unemployment rate for youth (ages 15 to 24), is 11.5%, which is more than double that of the adult population.

The Canada Summer Jobs Program has been in place since 1997. It is delivered by the Department of Employment and Social Development under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether Employment and Social Development Canada provided wage subsidies to qualified employers that resulted in youth gaining work experience, including those facing barriers.

Entity: Employment and Social Development Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Shared Services Canada, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Context
Canadians increasingly rely on digital technology to connect with each other, to work, and to access services. The federal government is planning to put in place a national approach to digital identity so that Canadians can access government services and other services across the economy securely and seamlessly, anytime, anywhere and on any device.

A digital identity is a digital equivalent of physical identification documents, such as a passport, a driver’s licence, a health card, and university diploma, which Canadians would use to access services to which they are entitled.

Audit objective
The audit seeks to determine whether Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, with the support of Shared Services Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and in consultation with other departments, is effectively planning a national approach to digital identity that will provide Canadians with digital identification to seamlessly and securely access government and other services.

Entity: Employment and Social Development Canada, Statistics Canada

Context
In 2023, Statistics Canada data indicated that 19% of the population was 65 years or older. For the first time in Canadian history, there were more people aged 65 and older than under 18. Canada’s population is aging, and it is critical for government to ensure that programs are in place to provide seniors with the necessary economic, health, and social supports to help them age well and remain financially secure.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether

• Employment and Social Development Canada effectively led the federal government in ensuring that programs were in place to address seniors’ needs, now and as the population continues to age
• Statistics Canada provided information to support Employment and Social Development Canada’s efforts to lead federal programming to address seniors’ needs

Entity: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, National Defence, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Context
The Industrial and Technological Benefits policy was established to meet the third goal of the Defence Procurement Strategy, which is to leverage equipment purchases to create jobs and economic growth for Canadians. The policy requires companies awarded certain defence and Canadian Coast Guard procurement contracts to undertake business activity in Canada equal to the value of the contracts.

Audit objective
The audit seeks to determine whether Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada ensures that the Industrial and Technological Benefits policy meets its objectives, as part of the Defence Procurement Strategy, for contracts managed in partnership with National Defence and Public Services and Procurement Canada.

Entity: Canada Revenue Agency, Export Development Canada, Finance Canada, Global Affairs Canada

Context
The Canada Emergency Business Account was announced on 27 March 2020 as part of Canada’s COVID‑19 Economic Response Plan. The objective was to help small businesses and not-for-profit organizations cover their operating costs during the COVID‑19 pandemic and to position them for recovery.

Initially, the program provided interest-free loans of $40,000 to eligible businesses, with $10,000 to be forgiven if the rest of the loan was repaid by a set date. In October 2020, the government announced that an additional $20,000 would be available for loan holders as a top-up amount, half of which would be forgivable.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether Finance Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Export Development Canada, and the Canada Revenue Agency, according to their roles and responsibilities, managed the Canada Emergency Business Account pandemic support program for small businesses with due regard for value for money.

Entities: Communications Security Establishment Canada, Shared Services Canada, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Context
Much of Canada’s economy and critical infrastructure relies on digital systems, as does the federal government's ability to provide services to Canadians. This makes Canada vulnerable to cybercrime attacks by those wishing to undermine our national security, economic prosperity, faith in democratic institutions, and way of life.

To help ensure that the government is equipped to combat cyber-threats, Budget 2024 provided $11.1 million over 5 years to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to work on aspects of a whole-of-government cybersecurity strategy. The goal of the Government of Canada’s Enterprise Cyber Security Strategy is to define objectives to improve the government’s cybersecurity posture and to support its implementation.

Audit objective
The audit seeks to determine whether the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Communications Security Establishment Canada, and Shared Services Canada had the governance and tools in place to protect and defend government networks and systems against cyber-threats in a coordinated manner.

Entities: Defence Construction Canada, National Defence, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Context
The federal government committed to procuring 88 new advanced fighter aircraft, “a fighter fleet that is capable, upgradeable, resilient and interoperable with our allies and partners to ensure Canada continues to meet its NORAD and NATO commitments in the future.”

F‑35 aircraft will replace the CF‑18 Hornet aircraft currently in service. By 2032, after almost 50 years in Canadian service, the CF‑18 fleet will have reached the end of its service life. Insufficient aircraft will remain to meet operational commitments if the delivery of the F‑35 fleet is significantly delayed.

Audit objective
The audit seeks to determine whether National Defence developed plans to introduce the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft into service and achieved progress on them so that fighter capability would be delivered on time and on budget and would meet the government’s operational commitments to NORAD and NATO and to enforcing Canada’s sovereignty.

Entities: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Context
Public Services and Procurement Canada manages a general-purpose office‑space portfolio of about 6.2 million square metres. This portfolio is to be managed in a way that is efficient and that maximizes value for money for Canadian taxpayers.

Public Services and Procurement Canada has to understand the supply and demand for office space. In addition, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat develops administrative policy requirements for the management of real property assets.

Audit objective
The audit seeks to determine whether

• Public Services and Procurement Canada managed the government’s general-purpose office-space portfolio to provide adequate space for the public service while minimizing costs to Canadians, with the support and guidance of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
• the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation managed the Federal Lands Initiative in a way that enabled the corporation to achieve the initiative’s aims under Canada’s National Housing Strategy

Entities: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Indigenous Services Canada

Context
Under the Indian Act, the precise legal meaning of the term “Indian” refers to First Nations people who are entitled to registration. Most Indigenous people in Canada do not identify as “Indians.” In addition, there is no register at Indigenous Services Canada for people who identify as Inuit or Métis.

A person registered under the act is entitled to certain benefits and rights and is eligible for a range of federal and provincial or territorial programs and services.

In a June 2022 report titled Make It Stop! Ending the Remaining Discrimination in Indian Registration, the then Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples recommended that the Office of the Auditor General of Canada conduct a performance audit of Indigenous Services Canada’s registration of people with a focus on the implementation of legislative amendments to the act’s registration provisions since 1985.

Audit objective
The audit seeks to determine whether Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada effectively and efficiently managed the registration process under the Indian Act.