Disclosures of wrongdoing

Disclosures of wrongdoing

Deciding to make a disclosure

Before deciding to submit a disclosure of wrongdoing to the Auditor General of Canada under section 14 of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA), the following criteria must be met:

The PSDPA gives federal public servants and members of the public a secure and confidential process for disclosing serious wrongdoing in the federal public sector, as well as protection from acts of reprisal. For information about the PSDPA and how to report wrongdoing, we invite you to consult the OPSIC, which handles complaints from federal public servants and members of the public and also has the authority to deal with reprisal complaints from current and former federal public servants. For additional resources about the PSDPA, please visit the Treasury Board Secretariat website

Mandate of the Auditor General of Canada under the PSDPA

Under section 14 of the PSDPA, the Auditor General of Canada has the authority to receive disclosures of wrongdoing from current federal public servants about OPSIC. The Auditor General of Canada can choose to investigate or not. The purpose of these investigations is to recommend corrective action to the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada. The Auditor General of Canada is required to report founded cases of wrongdoing to Parliament.

Under the PSDPA, the Auditor General of Canada cannot:

• deal with disclosures of wrongdoing that concern other federal organizations, or any provincial, territorial, and municipal organizations
• deal with disclosures of wrongdoing from former federal public servants or members of the public
• deal with reprisal complaints
• act as a court of law to review the decisions rendered by the OPSIC

Contact us