What to Expect—An Auditee’s Guide to the Performance Audit Process

Questions often arise about how we conduct our performance audits—more specifically, what the entities that we audit can expect from us and what we expect from them. The purpose of this document is to provide answers to these questions by outlining

• our objectives,
• the principles governing interactions between auditors and auditees, and
• information about our audit process.

The objectives of our relationships with the entities we audit are to

• make an ongoing and consistent effort to understand the context in which government departments and agencies do their work,
• promote open two way communications, and
• act professionally and objectively.

The underlying principles that guide the work of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada are ensuring respectfulness, trust, and integrity while maintaining our independence, professionalism, and objectivity.

Ultimately, the aim is to better serve Parliament by ensuring that our performance audit reports and recommendations are fair and objective, and are seen to be fair and objective by those responsible for making the necessary changes in how the federal government manages public funds.

I hope that this information provides entity officials with a valuable reference that will encourage productive and respectful relations between audited entities and my audit staff.

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