Our work

Context:

Money laundering can have profound and long-lasting impacts across Canada. Between $45 billion and $113 billion gets laundered through Canada each year, helping to fund criminal activities such as human trafficking and terrorist activities, both domestically and abroad.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada is responsible for overseeing compliance with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, while keeping compliance costs as low as possible. The centre must also generate useful intelligence from the information it collects, to support law enforcement agencies and other partners.

Audit objective:

This audit seeks to determine whether the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada carried out effective compliance oversight and generated actionable financial intelligence, to fulfill its mandate.

Context:

Indigenous Services Canada is managing the New Fiscal Relationship With First Nations. This initiative aims to provide First Nations with predictable and flexible long‑term funding to increase their control over the delivery of services and help close the socio-economic gaps between First Nations and other Canadians.

Audit objective:

The audit seeks to determine whether Indigenous Services Canada effectively implemented, monitored, and assessed the results of the New Fiscal Relationship With First Nations.

Context:

The Public Health Agency of Canada maintains an inventory of medical supplies for public health emergencies, most of which are held by the agency’s National Emergency Strategic Stockpile.

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped emergency management by emphasizing the importance of pandemic preparedness, public health, supply chain resilience, and data-driven decision making. In 2024, the Public Health Agency of Canada developed the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile’s Comprehensive Management Plan to better prepare for future public health emergencies.

Audit objective:

This audit seeks to determine whether the Public Health Agency of Canada effectively managed the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile to meet federal, provincial, and territorial needs for public health emergencies.

Context:

The collection of customs duties and taxes on imported commercial goods totals roughly $40 billion annually and is the federal government’s second-largest source of revenue after income taxes. Over the last decade, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) launched and implemented the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system, a cloud-based digital platform to help modernize and improve the operational efficiency of assessing and collecting duties and taxes.

Audit objective:

This audit seeks to determine whether the Canada Border Services Agency efficiently and effectively collected customs duties and taxes for commercial goods imported into Canada using its CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management system.

Context:

In Canada, all persons have the right to participate fully in society. For persons with disabilities, realizing this right requires the identification and removal of systemic, attitudinal, and other barriers that impede equitable access to opportunities—including to employment. In recognition of this, the Government of Canada passed the Accessible Canada Act in 2019 with the goal of creating a barrier‑free Canada by 2040.
As the country’s largest employer, the federal public service holds a unique position of influence and leadership. It carries an obligation to strive to reflect the diversity of Canada’s population. This commitment is reinforced through key legislation and policy, which highlight the importance of building a representative public service.

Audit objective:

The audit seeks to determine whether selected federal organizations fostered an accessible workplace for public service employees with disabilities.

Context:

For the Canadian Armed Forces to be prepared, it must have sufficient ammunition. Ammunition is needed to train members and in operations, should the Canadian Armed Forces be called on to fight.
Canada’s 2024 defence policy update committed to building a larger reserve of ammunition. It set aside more than $9 billion over several years to support a strategic reserve initiative, which aims to restore and increase the ammunition inventory levels to support sustained combat operations.

Audit objective:

The audit seeks to determine whether National Defence, supported by Public Services and Procurement Canada, managed its ammunition to meet its training and strategic reserve needs.

Context:

The Canadian Dental Care Plan aims to provide affordable dental services for Canadian residents without access to dental insurance and with an annual adjusted family net income under $90,000. In the 2023 federal budget, the government committed $13 billion over 5 years for dental services and $4.4 billion annually thereafter for Health Canada to implement and operate the plan.
The plan began to enroll members in December 2023, and members were able to start seeing oral health providers beginning in May 2024.

Audit objective:

This audit seeks to determine whether Health Canada efficiently managed the Canadian Dental Care Plan to provide affordable dental care for eligible Canadian residents.

Context:

The federal government is responsible for managing more than 34,000 buildings, 20,000 engineering assets (such as wharves and dams), and 40,000 fleet assets (such as vehicles and boats). The replacement value of these assets is more than $110 billion. The Greening Government Strategy, launched in 2017, set out the Government of Canada’s commitment to increasing resilience and adapting to a changing climate. As part of this commitment, the government aims to reduce significant climate-related risks to critical assets, services, and activities by 2035 and to the remaining high‑value assets, services, and activities by 2040.

Audit objective:

The audit seeks to determine whether the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat led the Greening Government Strategy to enhance the climate resilience of federal assets, services, and activities. This audit will also determine if Fisheries and Oceans Canada, National Defence, Public Services and Procurement Canada assessed climate change risks and implemented actions to proactively enhance the resilience of their assets, services, and activities to protect against from climate change.

Context:

Avian influenza, commonly known as “bird flu,” is a highly contagious respiratory illness that is typically found in wild, often migratory, birds. However, this virus has spilled over from birds to mammals, including humans, and public health authorities warn that further mutations could lead to sustained human-to-human transmission.

The federal government is responding to the threat of avian influenza through the application of the One Health framework. This is a coordinated approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and the ecosystems they depend on.

Audit objective:

This audit seeks to determine whether:

• Environment and Climate Change Canada’s surveillance systems and processes for the detection of the avian influenza virus supported the management and conservation of migratory birds and species at risk
• the Canadian Food Inspection Agency eliminated the avian influenza virus from infected premises and contained its spread in domestic animals
• the Public Health Agency of Canada secured a sufficient supply of avian influenza vaccine, with the support of Public Services and Procurement Canada, and managed the supply to protect human health against the threat of a pandemic

Context:

Thermal coal is primarily used to generate electricity in power plants and is considered to be one of the most polluting fossil fuels. As air pollution and climate change have no borders, Canada committed to many initiatives focused on phasing out thermal coal. These commitments include a thermal coal export ban from and through Canada by 2030 and over $1 billion toward the Climate Investment Funds—Accelerating Coal Transition investment program to support the global phase-out of thermal coal abroad.

Audit objective:

This audit seeks to determine whether

• Environment and Climate Change Canada, in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada, took effective actions toward Canada’s commitment to ban the export of thermal coal from and through Canada by 2030
• Environment and Climate Change Canada and Global Affairs Canada took effective actions toward Canada’s commitment to support a global phase-out of unabated coal–fired electricity

Context:

Flooding is the most common and costly natural disaster in Canada, and flood hazard maps are a key tool to help prepare for and respond to its impacts. Provinces and territories are responsible for creating and updating these maps, but gaps remain. To address this, the federal government launched the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program in 2021 to support the provinces and territories in producing more consistent and comprehensive maps and to make this information more accessible to Canadians.

Audit objective:

The audit seeks to determine whether Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Public Safety Canada ensured the timely production of flood hazard maps that are effective for supporting climate change adaptation and protecting Canadians.

Context:

Pesticides can enter waterways from industry, agriculture, or landscaping uses and can create risks to aquatic ecosystems, drinking water, and more. Monitoring water for pesticides provides safeguards for both environmental and human health.
Health Canada is responsible for assessing risks and regulating pesticides at the federal level so that their use does not pose unacceptable risks to people or the environment. The Canadian Water Monitoring Program for Pesticides was established in 2024 to support Health Canada in making informed regulatory decisions about pesticides.

Audit objective:

This audit seeks to determine whether Health Canada took action to reduce risks from pesticides to human health and the environment, identified through water monitoring.

Context:

The Federal Sustainable Development Strategy outlines the Government of Canada’s plan and vision for a more sustainable Canada. It further establishes government-wide sustainable development goals and targets.
The Minister of the Environment is required to report on the federal government’s progress in implementing the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy.

Review objective:

This review seeks to assess the fairness of the information in the 2025 Progress Report on the 2022–2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy.