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Legislative Auditing

• Financial Audit
• Value-for-Money Audit
• Audit of the use made of grants
• Special Audit or Investigation
• Application of Recommendations

Legislative auditing comprises, to the extent deemed appropriate by the Auditor General, the financial audit, the audit to ensure the compliance of operations with statutes, regulations, policy statements and directives, as well as the value-for-money audit. The latter includes special audits carried out at the request of the government or the Conseil du trésor.

The Auditor General’s jurisdiction in the field of financial audit covers all public funds and other public property of the government, its agencies and its enterprises, which represents close to 300 entities. As for value-for-money audit, his jurisdiction includes, in addition to the aforementioned entities, all public and government agencies that do not produce separate financial statements. To these must be added the beneficiaries of grants paid by these agencies, such as those of the health and social services network as well as of the education network.  

Certain entities may, pursuant to their constitutive act, entrust the audit of their books and accounts to accountants of the private sector. In such cases, the Auditor General exercises a right of examination. This right allows him to examine the files of the external auditor and to request additional work, if necessary.  It also gives him the possibility to inform the National Assembly of any situation that he considers appropriate.

Financial Audit

This type of audit includes the audit of financial statements and that of other financial information as well as the audit of compliance of operations having a financial impact with laws, regulations, policies and directives. The purpose of this type of audit is to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements and the information are free from material misstatement. Financial audits may give rise to the production of a report and the making of recommendations to the Executive of the entity, which aim notably to improve internal control. The report may also be tabled in the National Assembly when the Auditor General deems it appropriate.

Value-for-Money Audit

The aim of value-for-money audit is to clarify the means that managers put in place to administer, in an economic, efficient and effective manner, the resources entrusted to them. The audit of the use made of grants paid by public agencies and agencies of the government as well as the audit of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Act  are also part of this type of audit. However, these audit engagements do not examine the merits of policy statements and the objectives of the various programs.

In order to facilitate communications with the organizations concerned, the Guide à l’intention des entités vérifiées * (Guide intended for audited entities) has been prepared. These entities will find answers to their questions concerning how the work will unfold and the collaboration that they will be called upon to provide.

* French version only

Audit of the use made of grants

The Auditor General Act  empowers the Auditor General to audit the use made of grants paid by a government department or agency to an institution, association or enterprise of the health and social services network or of the education network. The examination of the use made of grants may include the three components of auditing, namely financial audit, audit for compliance with laws, regulations, policy statements and directives, and value-for-money audit.

Special Audit or Investigation

Special audits are carried out at the request of the government or the Conseil du trésor, but the Auditor General must not let such work take precedence over his main obligations.

Application of Recommendations

Within the context of his audits, the Auditor General makes significant and constructive recommendations and comments, likely to help entities improve and engage in enlightened governance. Moreover, he sees to it that authorities adhere to these recommendations.

The managers of the entities for which the recommendations are intended usually look for solutions to implement these recommendations. After a few years, there is a follow-up on the audit work. The objective is to see if the recommendations initially made have been taken into account and if the audited entities have corrected the deficiencies that had been identified.