Public Services and Procurement Canada
Key compliance attributes of the internal audit function

The Policy on Internal Audit and the Directive on Internal Audit support the oversight of public resources throughout the federal public administration through the application of a professional and objective internal audit function that is independent of departmental management.

The Directive outlines specific requirements of the Chief Audit Executive and mandatory procedures for internal auditing in the Government of Canada in subsection 4.1. These procedures include public reporting requirements in the form of key compliance attributes as prescribed by the Comptroller General of Canada. These attributes were selected in order to provide Canadians pertinent information regarding the professionalism, performance and impact of the internal audit function within Government departments. The key attributes of compliance with the Policy and Standards are designed to support and produce:

internal auditors that are trained to effectively perform the work
audit work that is performed in conformance with the international standards for the profession
audit work that is performed according to a systematically developed risk-based audit plan, which has been approved by the head of the organization, and that results in management actions being taken in response to report recommendations
audit work that is perceived by stakeholders as adding value in the pursuit of organizational objectives

It should be noted that these are not performance measures, and as such, no targets are attached. Under the Policy, the Comptroller General has the authority to amend these attributes, should there be changes in the internal audit environment and/or due to the evolving maturity of the internal audit function.

Key compliance attributes of internal audit

In accordance with the Directive, Public Services and Procurement Canada’s (PSPC) Office of the Chief Audit, Evaluation and Risk Executive presents the key compliance attributes for the internal audit function. The compliance attributes pertain to staff professional certifications and designations, the quality assurance and improvement program, and execution of the audit plan.

Table 1: Key compliance attributes of the internal audit function as of August 31, 2025
Performance indicators	Key compliance attributes	Results as of August 31, 2025
Internal auditors in departments have the training required to do the job effectively. Multidisciplinary teams are in place to address diverse risks.	Percent of staff with an internal audit or accounting designation (Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA))	50%
	Percent of staff with an internal audit or accounting designation (CIA, CPA) in progress	15%
	Percent of staff holding other professional designations (Certified Government Auditing Profession, Certified Information Systems Auditor, etc.)^{Footnote 1}	25%
Internal audit work is performed in conformance with the international standards for the profession of internal audit as required by Treasury Board policy.	Date of last comprehensive briefing to the Departmental Audit Committee (DAC) on the internal processes, tools, and information considered necessary to evaluate conformance with the Institute of Internal Auditors Code of Ethics and the Standards and the results of the Quality Assurance and Improvement Program	May 29, 2024
	Date of last external assessment	June 7, 2025
The risk-based audit plans (RBAP) are submitted to audit committees and approved by deputy heads implemented as planned with resulting reports published. Management is acting on audit recommendations for improvements to departmental processes.	RBAP and related Information name/status of audit for the current fiscal year of the RBAP date the audit report was approved date the audit report was published original planned date for completion of all Management Action Plan (MAP) items status of MAP items	Refer to Table 2: Internal audit plan and related information
Internal audit is credible and adding value in support of the mandate and strategic objectives of the organization.	Average overall usefulness rating from respondents of areas audited	Good (75%)
Footnotes for table 1 Footnote 1 Note that there could be duplication across the categories as one employee could hold more than one other professional designation and could also be in pursuit of an additional designation. Return to footnote 1 referrer

Table 2: Internal audit plan and related information^{Footnote 2}
Engagement title	Engagement status	Report approved date	Report published date	Original planned Management Action Plan completion date^{Footnote 3}	Implementation status^{Footnote 4}
Office of the Comptroller General Horizontal Audit of Business Continuity Planning	Published – MAP fully implemented	October 30, 2017	August 2018	March 2019	100%
Review of Staffing	Published – MAP fully implemented	June 11, 2019	October 16, 2020	September 2020	100%
Audit of Information Technology (IT) Security	Published – MAP not fully implemented	January 28, 2020	October 16, 2020	March 2021	50%
Audit of the Management of Engineering Assets	Published – MAP fully implemented	June 1, 2020	October 16, 2020	September 2020	100%
Industrial Security Systems Transformation	Approved – Not published	December 16 2020	Not applicable (N/A)	March 2022	76%
Follow-up to the Audit of IT Security	Published – MAP not fully implemented	December 20, 2021	May 2022	March 2025	18%
Laboratories Canada: Joint Advisory on Governance: Emerging Issues and Risks	Approved – Not published	June 30, 2022	N/A	October 2023	74%
Accrual Budgeting	Published – MAP fully implemented	November 22, 2022	April 2023	June 2023	100%
Health Check on change management for the Electronic Procurement Solution (EPS): Phase II	Approved – Not published	April 17, 2023	N/A	June 30, 2023	83%
EPS Independent Third Party Review Gate #3 frozen allotment (Milestone 6 to 8)	Approved – Not published	February 21, 2023	N/A	March 31, 2024	82%
Audit of Federal Government Consulting Contracts Awarded to McKinsey & Company	Published – MAP not fully implemented	March 26, 2023	March 30, 2023	January 31, 2025	90%
Audit of Pay Validation: Phoenix Database Migration	Published – MAP not applicable	May 7, 2025	July 3, 2025	N/A	N/A
Horizontal Office of the Comptroller General Audit of Procurement Governance	Published – MAP not fully implemented	February 25, 2025	March 7, 2025	March 31, 2027	To be determined (TBD)
Risk Based Assurance Strategy (RBAS) - Human Resources and Pay portfolio 2024-25	Approved – Not published	November 20, 2024	N/A	N/A	N/A
Advisory on Project Management Practices for Infrastructure Projects	In progress	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Health Check on the OneHR Service PSPC Project	In progress	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Health Check on the Feasibility Project	In progress	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Targeted Advice and Support on Human Resources (HR) and Pay Governance	In progress	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Audit of Departmental Information Management	In progress	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
RBAS - HR and Pay portfolio 2025-26	Planned	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Footnotes for table 2 Footnote 2 Notes: Engagements from past fiscal years will remain listed in the table until 100% MAP implementation is achieved In order to address emerging risks and departmental priorities, we may adjust the engagements in the internal audit plan Return to footnote 2 referrer Footnote 3 The majority of MAP owners requested an extension to the originally planned MAP completion date. Return to footnote 3 referrer Footnote 4 The implementation status included in this report includes information from the March 2025 update which was debriefed at the DAC in September 2025. Return to footnote 4 referrer

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2025-11-21

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Public Services and Procurement Canada
Key compliance attributes of the internal audit function

Key compliance attributes of internal audit

Footnotes for table 1

Footnotes for table 2

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Public Services and Procurement Canada Key compliance attributes of the internal audit function

Key compliance attributes of internal audit

Footnotes for table 1

Footnotes for table 2

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Public Services and Procurement Canada
Key compliance attributes of the internal audit function