Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's a pleasure to be here. I am joined today by the president and CEO of CMHC, Evan Siddall.
By way of opening, I would like to say that we welcome the committee's interest in the most recent special examination of CMHC's operations conducted by the Auditor General of Canada and Ernst & Young.
The Financial Administration Act requires that all crown corporations undergo a special examination at least once every ten years. The special examination we are discussing today covered the period between March 1 and December 31, 2017.
For the most part, the audit concluded that CMHC maintained good corporate management practices during this period, in a manner that provided the reasonable assurance required under the Financial Administration Act.
However, as you have also heard this morning, auditors identified a significant deficiency in corporate governance related to board appointments and oversight and competencies. I will limit my remarks to measures taken to correct these issues.
Most notably, during the period covered by the audit, four of the 12 positions on CMHC's board of directors were vacant. This resulted in gaps in the competencies and diversity of the board, which the auditors concluded hindered the effectiveness of its oversight.
CMHC and the board itself have limited involvement in the selection of board members; these are Governor in Council appointments. However, I am pleased to say that the government appointed six new members—including me—to the board in December 2017, just as the special examination was wrapping up.
These appointments filled the four vacant positions as well as two that were about to expire. Importantly, they also helped to address the competency and experience gaps identified by the auditors.
Since then, the government has appointed two additional members to replace individuals whose terms had expired. Together, the eight new members have brought diverse perspectives and a wide range of skills to the board, including in areas related to affordable housing, information technology and chartered accountancy.
My own background, for example, is managing large and mid-sized housing organizations, which includes extensive work with the non-profit, charitable, social entrepreneurship, co-operative and foundation sectors.
I believe Evan would agree that the reconstituted board's knowledge and expertise have been of significant value in helping CMHC lead the national housing strategy, which was announced post-audit, as well as ensuring that Canadians benefit from stable and secure housing markets.
Also, in response to the auditor's recommendations, CMHC has introduced new practices to improve the capacity of board members to oversee the company's operations. For example, it has strengthened the annual review of board competencies to identify gaps. My board colleagues and I have received training in specific areas of corporate governance. A menu of relevant courses and training for board members is updated quarterly and the company will be presenting a list of suggested deep-dive topics for the board and its committees on an annual basis.
The board created a new oversight board committee, the housing and capital projects committee, which will replace the affordable housing committee. This committee will oversee the national housing strategy, capital spending, future of work projects and any other projects with an expected cost in excess of $10 million. The housing and capital projects committee will meet for the first time in May 2019. These include measures under the national housing strategy as well as CMHC's new housing affordability strategy, which aims to ensure that “By 2030, everyone in Canada has a home that they can afford and that meets their needs.”
CMHC is supporting this new committee's work by providing regular updates on assisted housing activities. The company also provides information through its quarterly “Assisted Housing Business Supplement”.
Thank you again for the opportunity to be here to answer your questions.
I will turn things over to Evan now, who will complete our presentation.