Audit and Evaluation

What is Internal Audit?

What is Evaluation?

The TBS Internal Audit Policy (2001) states that departments must "have an effective, independent and objective internal audit function that is properly resourced to provide sufficient and timely assurance services on all important aspects of its risk management strategy and practices, management control framework and practices and information used for decision making and reporting."

For practical purposes, this means that internal audit is responsible for providing independent, evidence based, assurance to the Deputy Minister and to the Comptroller General of Treasury Board Secretariat on the state of the department. This in turn contributes to improved management practices, good governance practices and effective stewardship of public resources.

Internal Audit carries out this responsibility by conducting review, assurance audit and special audit engagements and by providing advice and consulting services to the department in the areas of risk management, governance and comptrollership. These engagements touch on all of the major program areas in the department while focussing on areas of highest risk.

To promote transparency, internal audit budgets and major activities are reported to Canadians through the annual Departmental Report on Plans and Priorities, and all approved internal audit reports are proactively posted to the departmental web-site.

The TBS Evaluation Policy (2001) states that evaluation "Ensures government has timely, strategically focused, objective and evidence-based information on the performance of its policies, program and initiatives to produce better results for Canadians."

It provides an in depth examination of program or policy success, relevance and cost-effectiveness. The Centre of Excellence for Evaluation in TBS found in its 2004 consultations that it "Serves as an independent voice to management regarding what the department is getting for its money."

Evaluation is the only function in government that provide reliable information on whether Government is achieving intended results and effectively responding to citizen's needs. In this, it focuses on the real outcomes of programs for Canadians given the amount that was spent rather than the focusing on how efficiently the programs operated.

Evaluation enables an evidence-based discussion on allocation and re-allocation of expenditures. This type of discussion is crucial to ensuring that programs evolve over time to continue meeting the changing needs of Canadians.

While evaluation reports are largely written for policy makers, legislators and academics, they are often of interest to Canadians as well and as such, all completed reports are posted on the departmental web-site.