President of the Treasury Board appearance before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) – Report 1, ArriveCAN, of the 2024 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada – April 2024

ArriveCAN

The ArriveCAN app was built on an emergency basis under exceptional circumstances; however, the details that have come to light in recent months are concerning.
TBS did not have any involvement in the development of the ArriveCAN app.
Deputy heads are responsible for contracting activities under their delegation.
The Auditor General found that TBS has appropriate contracting rules in place, but that the rules weren’t followed.

Treasury Board sets the policies that define responsibilities for departments.
Given the volume of procurement, controls are in place at various levels based on contract value, risk and complexity.
Deputy heads are responsible for procurement activities in their organization.
Departments have a senior official who is responsible for the process and controls around the management of procurement to deliver best value.
Approval from the Treasury Board is required for contracting values over certain dollar amounts or risk levels.

Government-wide:

GCStrategies/Coredal – January 1, 2011, to February 16, 2024: 120 contracts – $107.8M
Dalian – January 1, 2011, to March 4, 2024: 445 contracts – $127.8M
Coradix – January 1, 2011, to March 4, 2024: 541 contracts – $596.8M
Dalian Enterprises and Coradix Technology Consulting (in joint venture) – January 1, 2011, to March 4, 2024: 122 contracts – $189.5M

TBS:

GCStrategies – January 1, 2011, to February 16, 2024:
- TBS authority: 10 contracts – $9.97M
- PSPC authority: 1 contract – $1.37M
Dalian – January 1, 2011, to March 4, 2024: 2 contracts – $49,654.56
Coradix – January 1, 2011, to March 4, 2024: - 4 contracts - $103,632.30
TBS had no contracts with Dalian and Coradix as a joint venture nor with Coredal

The government prioritizes the use of internal resources and reskilling employees to support evolving digital service delivery. Where it makes sense and when necessary, specialized expertise is used to temporarily supplement our workforce to deliver for Canadians.
The GC Digital Talent Strategy is helping to rethink the way government recruits, develops and deploys talent across the public service and offers opportunities for training, development and advancement for its digital practitioners.
Under the strategy, departments are required to take steps to seek internal talent prior to initiating a procurement process for digital talent or services.

TBS’s Directive on Conflict of Interest states that employees must advise their deputy head of outside employment and activities that could result in a real or perceived conflict of interest or that may impair their ability to be objective and impartial.
The directive also requires employees to seek deputy head approval before entering into a contractual arrangement with the government for which they are receiving any direct or indirect benefit or income.
Non-compliance may be subject to disciplinary measures, up to and including termination of employment.
A review of the directive is underway by the CHRO to ensure that requirements are clear, particularly as they relate to employees who engage in outside employment. The review is also looking at what additional TBS oversight may be required; this could include strengthening the consequences of non-compliance.

Each department that was audited (CBSA, PHAC and PSPC) has developed management action plans in response to audit.
CBSA has a 10-point action plan that includes creation of a new Procurement Directorate, new Executive Contract Review Board and mandatory training.
TBS is supportive of the Procurement Ombudsman and Auditor General’s findings and recommendations and will continue to closely monitor CBSA’s response to identified issues and deficiencies.

On March 20, TBS announced a series of actions to enhance its oversight of departmental practices and processes and support effective management across government.
TBS is introducing a new Risk and Compliance Process which will assess government-wide trends, risks and individual departmental performance in key management areas and take immediate corrective actions where necessary.
The Comptroller General is currently undertaking a horizontal audit across a number or large department to assess governance, decision-making and controls associated with professional service contracts, including IT.
TBS will bring forward measures to strengthen the accountability of managers when procuring professional services by embedding certain elements of the Manager’s Guide in a mandatory procedure.
CHRO will review the Directive of Conflict of Interest and what additional TBS oversight of the Directive may be required.

In addition to the horizontal audit that TBS will lead:
November 2023 – TBS provided information to chief audit executives to support the assessment of procurement risks
February 29 – Comptroller General met with chief audit executives to recommend including procurement work in departmental risk–based audit plans
Many departments have undertaken or are undertaking audits or will be part of the horizontal audit.

TBS-OCG is strengthening its guidance to managers and procurement practitioners by:
- updating mandatory training for procurement officers that is provided by the Canada School of Public Service
- updating the procurement course that is part of the authority delegation training all managers must take
- releasing an update to the “Manager’s Guide: Key Considerations when procuring professional services”to reflect the findings from these audits so managers are clear about their responsibilities

Improvements made to OpenGov Portal (Proactive Publication) throughout March to make contract values clearer and easier to search.
Entries now show a contract and its amendments as a single “total value,” where the data permits.
This clarified instances where published information created confusion on the number of contracts and the total contract value.
Continued improvements will be made to the Portal, including new dashboards that provide visuals to simplify key data points.
The Comptroller General also directed departments to review their proactive publication of contract data for the completeness and accuracy by June 7, 2024.

2024-08-16