Report on the Key Compliance Attributes of the Internal Audit Function: May 31, 2021

From: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Background

The Internal Audit and Evaluation Bureau (IAEB) helps the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) meet its objectives by providing valued advice to senior management for decision-making. The internal audit function provides this advice by taking a systematic, disciplined approach to improving the effectiveness of processes for risk management, control and governance. In doing so, the function provides independent and objective assurance that TBS’s activities are managed in a way that demonstrates responsible stewardship.

The IAEB conducts its audit work in accordance with:

the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Audit
the Institute of Internal Auditors’ International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (the Standards)

The Directive on Internal Audit requires that all departments provide information on key compliance attributes to demonstrate the professionalism, performance and impact of their internal audit function. The attributes are not performance measures, and no targets are attached.

Professionalism of staff

Collectively, internal audit staff at TBS make up a diverse and multidisciplinary team that has the requisite knowledge, skills and other competencies to fulfill their responsibilities (refer to Table 1). In addition, the IAEB has a staff member who has advanced knowledge of data analytics.

Table 1: designations and certifications of internal audit staff members
Designation or certification	Percentage of staff
Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) or Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA)^{table 1 note *}^{table 1 note †}	55%
CIA or CPA in progress	27%
Other designations^{table 1 note †} (Certified Government Auditing Professional (CGAP), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA) and others)	18%
Table 1 Notes Table 1 Note 1 There are 11 internal audit staff members in the IAEB as of May 31, 2021, including the Chief Audit Executive, the Committee Secretariat Manager for the TBS Audit Committee and members who are currently on assignment with the IAEB. This number excludes members of the data analytics team who support internal audit and evaluation functions. Return to table 1 note * referrer Table 1 Note 2 Staff members may hold multiple designations or certifications. Depending on the designations or certifications that a staff member has or is working toward, they may be counted in all three statistics. As a result, the percentages in Table 1 should not be considered parts of a whole. Return to table 1 note † referrer

Professional practices and quality assurance

The internal audit function at TBS conducts its work in conformance with the Standards. Information related to its activities, including status updates of ongoing engagements, human resources initiatives and follow-up on audit recommendations, are presented at each meeting of the TBS Audit Committee.

A self-assessment was conducted to evaluate conformance with the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Code of Ethics and the Standards. The results were provided to the Audit Committee in November 2020.

An external assessment was last completed in December 2016. It is anticipated that an external practice inspection will be launched in summer 2021 and that final results will be presented by December 2021.

Risk-based audit plan and related information

The assurance and advisory engagements conducted by the IAEB are planned based on the approved, multi-year Integrated Audit and Evaluation Plan. The plan is reviewed and discussed at meetings of the TBS Audit Committee and the TBS Performance Measurement and Evaluation Committee. Planned engagements are adjusted to reflect any changes to the priorities, risks and needs of TBS. Details on the audit and review engagements for 2020–21 are listed in Table 2.

Table 2: internal audit engagements planned or completed by the IAEB as of May 31, 2021
Project	Status	Date of report approval	Date of publication	Planned completion of management action plan	Implementation status
Audit of TBS Pay Controls	Completed	July 22, 2020	February 16, 2021	March 31, 2021	20% completed: delays due to the impact of the pandemic on operations
Lesson Learned from the Office of the Auditor General’s Audits on Rapid Decision-Making	Completed	August 2020	n/a	n/a	n/a
Advisory: Inventory of Human Resources and Pay Controls	Completed	November 2020	n/a	n/a	n/a
Risk Assessment of the Benefit and Insurance Plans	Completed	January 2021	n/a	n/a	n/a
Advisory: Review of the Governance Structure for the Exploratory phase of NextGen HR and Pay for the Business Owner	Completed	April 2021	n/a	n/a	n/a
Advisory: Joint Review of the Union Dues Interface Process for the Public Service Alliance of Canada	Completed	May 2021	n/a	n/a	n/a
Audit of Acquisition Cards	Reporting phase	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Advisory: [Government of Canada Financial and Materiel Management] GCfm Readiness Assessment	Reporting phase	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Advisory: Review of Documenting Decision-Making (Guidance on the Use of Code 699)	Reporting phase	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Advisory: Authorities Analysis for the Business Owner of Government of Canada Travel	Reporting phase	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Cyclical Staffing Assessment	Planning phase	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending

Value added to management

While surveys were not sent to senior management to measure the usefulness of the areas audited, input from the audited organization was solicited when the results were presented at the TBS Audit Committee. Senior management indicated a high level of satisfaction with the value-added provided by the IAEB to the committee.

An indication of the credible support provided by the IAEB to senior management is that the demand, from senior management, for advisory engagements and strategic and objective advice from the IAEB is surpassing the IAEB’s capacity.

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Date modified:: 2021-07-20

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