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:

Since 2020, the RCMP has made many changes to recruitment to create efficiencies and increase the number and diversity of its regular members (police officers). The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has about 16,500 regular members, and as of 2023, there was a shortfall of about 2,000 members. As this has impacts across the police force, recruiting to increase membership and close the gap is one of the RCMP’s top priorities.

Audit objective:

The audit seeks to determine whether the Royal Canadian Mounted Police recruited and posted regular members in a timely and effective way to meet operational requirements.

Context:

Since launching the Phoenix pay system in 2016, the federal government has spent almost $5 billion to operate it, of which more than $2 billion has been spent to fix pay problems. Over the next 10 years, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and Public Services and Procurement Canada plan to replace Phoenix at an estimated cost of more than $4 billion for a new system. The new system is expected to improve the accuracy and timeliness of pay for federal public servants and reduce costs for processing pay.

Audit objective:

The audit seeks to determine whether the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and Public Services and Procurement Canada are managing the Human Resources and Pay Transformation Project to ensure that federal public servants’ pay transactions will be accurate and on time and that the project will provide value for money.

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:

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s International Student Program facilitates the entry of international students to study at Canadian educational institutions.
The department introduced a cap on international student applications in January 2024 that aimed to reduce the intake by about 35% in 2024 and by an additional 10% in 2025. In March 2024, the government also announced a plan to reduce the number of temporary residents living in Canada to 5% of the total population by the end of 2026. Reforms to the International Student Program also included new measures to strengthen program integrity, address fraud, and increase diversity within the program.

Audit objective:

This audit seeks to determine whether Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is effectively implementing reforms to the International Student Program.

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 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:

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.