Upcoming reports

Upcoming audits

Find topics and dates of upcoming reports to Parliament, Northern Legislative Assemblies, and Crown corporations. Click on the triangle for more information about these upcoming audits. Information is regularly posted / updated. Please note that audit topics and dates are subject to change.

Performance Audits of Government Services and Programs

Report titles
Anticipated publication: 2024
ArriveCAN

Entities: Canada Border Services Agency, Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Context
Developed by the Canada Border Services Agency and Public Health Agency of Canada, ArriveCAN is a web tool and mobile app that allows travellers to provide their customs and immigration declarations in advance of their arrival to Canada. The tool also allows travellers to provide their vaccination status information when required.

On 2 November 2022, a motion called on the Auditor General of Canada to conduct a performance audit of ArriveCAN, including payments, contracts, and subcontracts for all aspects of the ArriveCAN tool.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether the Canada Border Services Agency, Public Health Agency of Canada, and Public Services and Procurement Canada managed all aspects of the ArriveCAN tool, including procurement and expected deliverables, with due regard for economy, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Professional Services Contracts

Entities: Government of Canada, Crown corporations

Context
In January 2023, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates carried out a study on consulting contracts awarded to McKinsey and Company by the Government of Canada and Crown corporations.

As part of the study, the committee recommended that the Auditor General of Canada audit the contracts awarded to McKinsey and Company since 1 January 2011 by any department, agency, or Crown corporation to determine whether the government received value for money.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether professional services contracts were awarded to McKinsey and Company in accordance with applicable policies and whether value for money for those contracts was obtained.

Combatting Cybercrime

Entities: Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Communications Security Establishment Canada, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Public Safety Canada

Context
In 2022, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre received reports of $531 million in total financial losses from individuals and businesses that were victims of cybercrime and related offences. Only around $3 million was recovered on behalf of victims with assistance from the Canadian Anti‑Fraud Centre.

The Government of Canada has invested approximately $137.5 million for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to establish a National Cybercrime Coordination Centre, which is intended to address the need for effective co-ordination and information sharing both among law enforcement agencies within Canada and with international partners. The RCMP has also invested a further $78.9 million to increase the RCMP’s Federal Policing capacity, including the establishment of specialist Cybercrime Investigative Teams across the country.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and selected federal organizations had the capacity and capability to effectively enforce laws against cybercrime activities to ensure the safety and security of Canadians.

Transportation Corridors and Supply Chain

Entity: Transport Canada

Context
With trade representing more than 60% of the gross domestic product, a large portion of every dollar made in Canada relies on moving goods to and from foreign customers. Moving goods is achieved through Canada’s transportation infrastructure, which comprises a network of roads, bridges, rail lines, airports, and sea ports.

Launched in 2017, the National Trade Corridors Fund is a program that helps fund infrastructure projects in Canada. These projects aim to improve the transportation system, including helping it to withstand the effects of climate change, better adapt to new technologies and innovation, and better address the transportation needs of Arctic and northern communities.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether Transport Canada designed, implemented, and monitored the National Trade Corridors Fund effectively to improve the fluidity and resiliency of transportation corridors.

Canada Summer Jobs

Obtaining a Criminal Record Suspension

Programs to Assist Seniors

Government of Canada Digital Credential Ecosystem

Follow-up on Pandemic Preparedness

Industrial and Technological Benefits

Immigration Detention

Housing in First Nations Communities

Entities: Indigenous Services Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Context
Access to more and better-quality housing in First Nations communities is critical to improving health and social outcomes and to advancing self-determination and reconciliation.

To meet housing needs in First Nations communities, a recent study estimates that an additional 134,000 new homes must be built and 81,000 homes must be renovated.

Audit objectives
This audit seeks to determine whether

  • Indigenous Services Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation supported First Nations in their efforts to close the housing gap by improving housing conditions and increasing First Nations’ capacity to manage housing
  • Indigenous Services Canada, in partnership with First Nations, made progress to transfer the control of housing to First Nations
First Nations and Inuit Policing Program

Entities: Public Safety Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Context
The First Nations and Inuit Policing Program, created in 1991, supports policing services through tripartite agreements among the federal government, provincial or territorial governments, and First Nations or Inuit communities.

In addition to our 2014 audit report on the program, the 2019 Council of Canadian Academies expert panel on Indigenous policing services and the 2022 Public Safety Canada program evaluation highlighted challenges with the program. These included (but were not limited to) insufficient program funding, an inflexible funding model, staffing challenges, and a lack of relevant performance indicators.

Audit objectives
This audit seeks to determine whether

  • Public Safety Canada under the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program worked in partnership with Indigenous communities to provide equitable access to police services that are tailored to the needs of those communities
  • the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program worked in partnership with Indigenous communities to deliver dedicated and tailored police services that supplement the services provided to provinces and territories under police service agreements
Report titles
Anticipated publication: 2025

Culture Change in National Defence

Establishing a New Fiscal Relationship With First Nations

Environmental and Sustainable Development Audits

Report titles
Anticipated publication: 2024
Agriculture and Climate Change Mitigation

Entity: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Context
In 2021, the agriculture sector accounted for 10% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions—the fifth-largest contributor. However, agriculture can also help slow climate change by storing carbon on agricultural lands.

Various national and international strategies, policies, plans, and commitments lay the foundation for taking action on climate change across the economy, including in the agriculture sector. They include targets for the sector, such as the national target for reducing fertilizer emissions by 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. These plans recognize the critical role that the agriculture sector has to play in helping Canada reach its climate targets.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

  • designed and implemented an approach for how the agriculture sector will contribute to Canada’s 2030 and 2050 greenhouse gas mitigation and sequestration goals, commitments, and targets
  • delivered its climate change mitigation programs and activities to achieve the results it committed to for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon
Zero Plastic Waste

Entities: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Statistics Canada

Context
In 2019, an economic study concluded that in Canada in 2016, 3,268 kilotonnes of plastics were discarded, the equivalent of 70% of the total amount introduced into the market that year. It also found that less than 10% of that waste is recycled. Canada had similar rates of mismanaging plastic waste and recycling as other member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development.

Earlier, in November 2018, the federal, provincial, and territorial environment ministers, through the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, agreed to work toward a common goal of having zero plastic waste. To this end, they approved in principle the Canada-wide Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether key federal organizations led by Environment and Climate Change Canada are on track to achieve their intended contributions to the Canada-wide goal to reach zero plastic waste by 2030 to reduce the impact of plastic pollution on the environment.

Decarbonizing Manufacturing Industries

Entity: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Context
In the context of the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, Environment and Climate Change Canada published the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan in March 2022. This plan contains emission reduction targets for certain major sectors of the Canadian economy.

The manufacturing industries (heavy industry and light manufacturing) are a key component of the plan, as they were the fourth-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada in 2021. In that year, they accounted for 13.6% of total greenhouse gas emissions.

The Net Zero Accelerator Initiative of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund is one of the key initiatives that the federal government is undertaking to decarbonize the manufacturing industries. The initiative has $8 billion of funding to support decarbonization efforts.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada managed the Strategic Innovation Fund’s Net Zero Accelerator Initiative to decarbonize the manufacturing industries in accordance with Canada’s climate goals and with due regard to value for money for Canadians.

Contaminated Sites

Entities: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Transport Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Context
There are more than 2,600 federal contaminated sites in northern Canada, which have originated primarily from mining, petroleum exploration, and military activity. They pose risks to the environment, human health, and safety.

The federal government has committed to identifying and remediating contaminated sites specifically in areas where Indigenous, lower income, or racialized communities live.

If the contaminated sites are not effectively managed, the risks and liabilities could increase as contaminants spread through soil, groundwater, or air, making these sites more challenging to remediate.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether Crown‑Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Transport Canada, working with Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, have effectively managed federal contaminated sites in the North by reducing the risks to the environment and human health and the associated financial liabilities for current and future generations.

Greening of Construction Materials in Public Infrastructure

Entities: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Infrastructure Canada

Context
The use of low embodied carbon construction materials (steel, concrete, and aluminum) plays an important role in helping Canada reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Heavy industry, which manufactures these construction materials, was responsible for 11% of Canada’s emissions in 2021.

In its 2006 Policy on Green Procurement, the Government of Canada acknowledged that, as the largest public buyer in Canada, it can reduce the substantial investment risks associated with decarbonizing manufacturing processes for low embodied carbon construction materials by using its purchasing power to stimulate market demand and reinforce the supply of these materials.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether the selected federal organizations have effectively used the Government of Canada’s purchasing power to support and prioritize the use of low-carbon construction materials, notably steel, concrete, and aluminum, in public infrastructure projects, in order to support environmental protection and sustainable development.

Climate Change Accountability Activities

Critical Minerals and Batteries

Assessment and Reassessment of Species at Risk

Federal Sustainable Development Strategy

Departmental Progress in Implementing Sustainable Development Strategies

Environmental Petitions Annual Report

Audits of Northern Territories

Yukon

Report titles
Anticipated publication: 2024

Yukon Contracting and Procurement

Northwest Territories

Report titles
Anticipated publication: 2024
Stanton Territorial Hospital Renewal Project

Entities: Department of Finance, Department of Infrastructure, Department of Health and Social Services, Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority

Context
Located in Yellowknife, the Stanton Territorial Hospital is the largest hospital in the Northwest Territories, serving patients from all regions of the Northwest Territories and the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.

In 2014, the Government of the Northwest Territories approved the procurement of the Stanton Territorial Hospital Renewal Project under a public-private partnership to expand and improve the original Stanton Territorial Hospital to meet the current and future health care needs of residents of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Audit objective
This audit seeks to determine whether the departments of Finance, Infrastructure, and Health and Social Services and the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority delivered on their responsibilities and commitments for the Stanton Territorial Hospital Renewal Project, including whether this project provided good value for money for the government and residents of the Northwest Territories.

Nunavut

Report titles
Anticipated publication: 2024

Nunavut Public Housing

Audits of Crown Corporations

Crown Corporations
Anticipated publication: 2024

Canada Lands Company Limited

Pacific Pilotage Authority

Destination Canada

Canadian Air Transport Security Authority