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

10. Long-term audit plan—Strategic Audit Plan

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) prepares long-term plans for individual audited entities or for sectoral topics that typically cover all OAG audit activities within the entity, for a multi-year period. The long-term plans are referred to as strategic audit plans (SAPs).

The SAP is a planning tool based on a risk assessment that the OAG uses to

At the start of a Strategic Audit Plan exercise, the OAG sends a letter to the deputy head of each entity involved. This letter describes the OAG’s intention to carry out a systematic and risk-based exercise to determine the audit work that needs to be done over the next few years to fulfill the OAG’s responsibilities under the Auditor General Act.

The audit team reviews key entity documents, such as

The team reviews other key documents, such as

The team interviews

When the Strategic Audit Plan exercise begins, the deputy head or other senior management of each entity involved in the audit is expected to inform the departmental audit committee and others in the entity who need to know about the exercise.

When the OAG prepares a SAP, the deputy head or other senior management of each entity involved is expected to provide documents and participate in interviews as requested.

When the OAG has an ongoing and substantial audit presence in an entity, the OAG offers to meet annually with the entity’s senior management and, if requested, the departmental audit committee.

Discussions can include but are not limited to