Financial Administration Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-11)

Marginal note:Quarterly financial reports

• 131.1 (1) Each parent Crown corporation shall, in respect of itself and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any, cause to be prepared, in the form and manner provided for by the Treasury Board, a quarterly financial report for each of the first three quarters of each financial year of the parent Crown corporation.

• Marginal note:Contents

  (2) The report shall contain

  • (a) a financial statement for the quarter and for the period from the start of the financial year to the end of that quarter;

  • (b) comparative financial information for the preceding financial year; and

  • (c) a statement outlining the results, risks and significant changes in relation to operations, personnel and programs.

• Marginal note:Report to be made public

  (3) The parent Crown corporation shall cause the report to be made public within 60 days after the end of the quarter to which the report relates.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (4) The Treasury Board may, by regulation, exempt a parent Crown corporation from the requirement set out in subsection (1) or provide that any of the content referred to in subsection (2) be excluded from its report.

Auditor’s Reports

Marginal note:Annual auditor’s report

• 132 (1) Each parent Crown corporation shall cause an annual auditor’s report to be prepared, in respect of itself and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any, in accordance with the regulations, on

  • (a) the financial statements referred to in section 131 and any revised financial statement referred to in subsection 133(3); and

  • (b) any quantitative information required to be audited pursuant to subsection (5).

• Marginal note:Contents

  (2) A report under subsection (1) shall be addressed to the appropriate Minister and shall

  • (a) include separate statements whether in the auditor’s opinion

    • (i) the financial statements are presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a basis consistent with that of the preceding year,

    • (ii) the quantitative information is accurate in all material respects and, if applicable, was prepared on a basis consistent with that of the preceding year, and

    • (iii) the transactions of the corporation and of each subsidiary that have come to the auditor’s notice in the course of his examination for the report were in accordance with this Part, the regulations, the charter and by-laws of the corporation or subsidiary and any directive given to the corporation; and

  • (b) call attention to any other matter falling within the scope of the auditor’s examination for the report that, in his opinion, should be brought to the attention of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (3) The Treasury Board may make regulations prescribing the form and manner in which the report referred to in subsection (1) is to be prepared.

• Marginal note:Separate reports

  (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part, the auditor of a parent Crown corporation may prepare separate annual auditor’s reports on the statements referred to in paragraph (1)(a) and on the information referred to in paragraph (1)(b) if, in the auditor’s opinion, separate reports would be more appropriate.

• Marginal note:Audit of quantitative information

  (5) The Treasury Board may require that any quantitative information required to be included in a parent Crown corporation’s annual report pursuant to subsection 150(3) be audited.

• Marginal note:Other reports

  (6) The auditor of a parent Crown corporation shall prepare such other reports respecting the corporation or any wholly-owned subsidiary of the corporation as the Governor in Council may require.

• Marginal note:Examination

  (7) An auditor shall make such examination as he considers necessary to enable him to prepare a report under subsection (1) or (6).

• Marginal note:Reliance on internal audit

  (8) An auditor shall, to the extent he considers practicable, rely on any internal audit of the corporation being audited that is conducted pursuant to subsection 131(3).

Marginal note:Errors and omissions

• 133 (1) A director or officer of a Crown corporation shall forthwith notify the auditor and the audit committee of the corporation, if any, of any error or omission of which the director or officer becomes aware in a financial statement that the auditor or a former auditor has reported on or in a report prepared by the auditor or a former auditor pursuant to section 132.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where an auditor or former auditor of a Crown corporation is notified or becomes aware of any error or omission in a financial statement that the auditor or former auditor has reported on or in a report prepared by the auditor or former auditor pursuant to section 132, he shall forthwith notify each director of the corporation of the error or omission if he is of the opinion that the error or omission is material.

• Marginal note:Correction

  (3) Where an auditor or former auditor of a Crown corporation notifies the directors of an error or omission in a financial statement or report pursuant to subsection (2), the corporation shall prepare a revised financial statement or the auditor or former auditor shall issue a correction to the report, as the case may be, and a copy thereof shall be given to the appropriate Minister.

Auditors

Marginal note:Appointment of auditor

• 134 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the auditor of a Crown corporation shall be appointed annually by the Governor in Council, after the appropriate Minister has consulted the board of directors of the corporation, and may be removed at any time by the Governor in Council, after the appropriate Minister has consulted the board.

• Marginal note:Auditor General

  (2) The Auditor General of Canada shall be appointed by the Governor in Council as the auditor, or a joint auditor, of each Crown corporation, unless the Auditor General waives the requirement of being so appointed.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply in respect of any parent Crown corporation the auditor of which is specified by any other Act of Parliament to be the Auditor General of Canada, but the Auditor General is eligible to be appointed as the auditor, or a joint auditor, of a parent Crown corporation pursuant to subsection (1) and section 135 does not apply to him.

• (4) [Repealed, 2005, c. 30, s. 36]

• Marginal note:Criteria for appointment

  (5) The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing the criteria to be applied in selecting an auditor for appointment pursuant to subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Re-appointment

  (6) An auditor of a Crown corporation is eligible for re-appointment on the expiration of the auditor’s appointment.

• Marginal note:Continuation in office

  (7) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if an auditor of a Crown corporation is not appointed to take office on the expiration of the appointment of an incumbent auditor, the incumbent auditor continues in office until a successor is appointed.

Marginal note:Persons not eligible

• 135 (1) A person is disqualified from being appointed or re-appointed or continuing as an auditor of a Crown corporation pursuant to section 134 if that person is not independent of the corporation, any of its affiliates, or the directors or officers of the corporation or any of its affiliates.

• Marginal note:Independence

  (2) For the purposes of this section,

  • (a) independence is a question of fact; and

  • (b) a person is deemed not to be independent if that person or any of that person’s business partners

    • (i) is a business partner, director, officer or employee of the Crown corporation or any of its affiliates, or a business partner of any director, officer or employee of the corporation or any of its affiliates,

    • (ii) beneficially owns or controls, directly or indirectly through a trustee, legal representative, agent or other intermediary, a material interest in the shares or debt of the Crown corporation or any of its affiliates, or

    • (iii) has been a receiver, receiver-manager, liquidator or trustee in bankruptcy of the Crown corporation or any of its affiliates within two years of the person’s proposed appointment as auditor of the corporation.

• Marginal note:Resignation

  (3) An auditor of a Crown corporation who becomes disqualified under this section shall resign immediately after becoming aware of the disqualification.