Thank you.
Mr. Chair, we're pleased to have this opportunity to discuss our office's 2015-16 performance report and our 2017-18 departmental plan.
As the legislative auditor of the federal government and the three territories, we provide independent and objective assurance, advice, and information about government financial statements and the management of government programs. The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development is responsible for environmental and sustainable development issues that fall under our mandate.
We conduct all our audits in accordance with Canadian auditing standards. Our audits and our system of quality control are subject to internal practice reviews and independent external reviews to provide assurance that you can rely on the quality of our work.
In addition to our audit work, we help to advance legislative audit methodology, accounting and auditing standards, and best practices. We also work internationally to support projects funded by Global Affairs Canada, build professional capacities, share knowledge, and promote better-managed and accountable international institutions.
As reflected in our financial statements, our net cost of operations was $90.7 million in the 2015-16 fiscal year, of which $13 million was services provided without charge by other government organizations. The balance was provided through the main estimates, including the $68.3 million that was approved under vote 1.
We had a budget of 557 full-time equivalent employees, and employed the equivalent of 546 full-time employees. With these resources we delivered 88 financial audits, four special examinations, 17 performance audits, and the audit of senators' expenses. This represents all planned audit work, except for one special examination that we delayed.
In our 2015-16 performance report, we note that parliamentary committees reviewed 55% of our performance audits. This number represents an increase from 44% in the 2014-15 fiscal year, although it's below our target of 65%. In total, we participated in 20 parliamentary committee hearings and briefings on our audit work.
Audit committee chairs and senior managers of the organizations for which we perform financial statement audits continue to believe that our audits are understandable, fair and timely, and that the audits add value. For senior managers in the organizations that are the subject of our performance audits, results are below our target. To address the concerns they raised, we're now communicating our findings and recommendations earlier in the audit process.
Our measures of organizational performance remain generally positive. In particular, our practice reviews, which serve as a key quality control in our audit methodology, found that our audit reports were appropriate and supported by proper evidence. Our 2015-16 performance report identifies several indicators of the impact of our work, along with measures of our operational performance, which are attached to this statement as appendix A.
Turning now to our 2017-18 departmental plan, our strategic framework identifies a number of client, operational, and people management objectives that we use to manage the office and to direct our continuous improvement efforts. In the 2017-18 fiscal year, we will focus on the following three priorities.
First, to develop and maintain a skilled, engaged, and bilingual workforce, we'll continue to support our audit managers as they adopt their new roles and responsibilities. We'll closely monitor the development and execution of second-language learning plans, and our employees’ professional development activities.
Second, we want to maximize the value and impact of our audit work. To do this, we'll improve how we scope and report our special examinations. We'll review some of our financial audits to ensure that we provide value as efficiently as possible. We'll focus on the financial control environment in the government, particularly in our annual audit of the Government of Canada’s consolidated financial statements.
Third, to improve the governance and management of our office, we'll review the federal legislative, regulatory, and policy requirements to ensure we can demonstrate our compliance. We'll also renew our information technology and physical security risk assessments.
For the 2017-18 fiscal year, the program expenditures of the Office of the Auditor General under vote 1 for this committee to consider reporting to the House is $68.3 million. Our planned number of full-time equivalent employees is 560. With the resources allotted to us we expect to complete more than 85 financial audits, 24 performance audits, and nine special examinations.
In conclusion, Mr. Chair, my staff and I look forward to continuing to serve Parliament with products of the highest quality and value in the coming year. We thank you for your ongoing support of our work. We would be pleased to answer your questions.
Thank you.
