Opening Statement to the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance
2023–24 Departmental Plan of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada
3 October 2023
Andrew Hayes
Deputy Auditor General
Mr. Chair, we are pleased to appear before the committee today to discuss our office’s work. I would like to acknowledge that this hearing is taking place on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. With me today are Nadine Roy, Chief Information Officer, Jean‑René Drapeau, Chief Financial Officer, and Vicki Clement, Principal of Corporate Services.
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada serves Canada through leadership and partnerships in audits that support trust in public institutions and continued public service excellence. We do this by providing Parliament and territorial legislatures with independent and objective information, advice, and assurance about government financial statements and the management of government programs. The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development assists the Auditor General by conducting reviews and audits according to his areas of expertise.
Our office provides audit reports to Parliament on topics that touch upon all of government activities, from audits of procurement and defence, to audits of access to benefits for hard-to-reach populations, and chronic homelessness. We are also the auditor of the 3 territories. As always, we would be happy to discuss any of our reports with the committee.
2023–24 Departmental Plan
I would like to turn now to our Main Estimates and Departmental Plan for the 2023–24 fiscal year. In this plan, we updated our departmental results framework. This framework provides revised departmental results and the indicators we will use to measure our progress in delivering these results.
Our total budget is $122.6 million for the 2023–24 fiscal year. With these resources, we plan to employ the equivalent of 765 full‑time employees.
During this period, we plan to issue 89 financial audits, 6 special examinations, and 25 performance audits. This includes the audits that Parliament has requested on the government’s ArriveCan application and on the use of contracts for professional services. We will be presenting our next audit reports to Parliament on October 19th, and in the New Year, we will be presenting reports that include an audit on housing in First Nations communities. We will also deliver all other reports that are required annually in the environment and sustainable development portfolio.
We will also be working on several large initiatives that are already underway in our office. They include our transformation journey and adapting our workspaces and systems. For example, we are in the process of replacing and modernizing important information technologyIT systems. Enhancing the value of our audits and better understanding stakeholder needs remain priorities for us.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening statement. We would be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you.