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Briefing Package for the hearing on Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates – 26 April 2021

Briefing Package for the hearing on Emergency Situation Facing Canadians in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic before the Standing Committee on Health – 28 Febraury 2022

Briefing Package for the hearing on Report 8—Pandemic Preparedness, Surveillance, and Border Measures, of the 2021 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on 20 April 2021

This audit focused on whether Public Services and Procurement Canada provided adequate procurement support to secure COVID‑19 vaccines, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada efficiently provided access to COVID‑19 vaccines, and the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada’s surveillance of COVID‑19 vaccines was effective and timely.

The audit focused on whether the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada, before and during the COVID‑19 pandemic, helped to meet the needs of provincial and territorial governments for selected Personal Protective Equipment (N95 masks and medical gowns) and medical devices (testing swabs and ventilators). The audit also focused on whether Public Services and Procurement Canada provided adequate procurement support to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

This audit focused on whether Employment and Social Development Canada managed the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to protect agricultural workers from COVID‑19 in 2020 and 2021. We focused particularly on the amended Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations and the department’s inspections, which were meant to verify whether employers followed the COVID‑19 regulatory requirements. These requirements came into force in April 2020 and were in place for the duration of our audit. We also examined whether Agriculture and Agri‑Food Canada verified that the recipients it funded under two of its COVID‑19 support programs met program terms and conditions.

This audit focused on whether Employment and Social Development Canada and the Department of Finance Canada provided analysis to support the initial design and subsequent adjustments to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. This audit also focused on whether Employment and Social Development Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency designed mechanisms so that the Canada Emergency Response Benefit would support eligible workers who suffered a loss of income for reasons related to COVID‑19, including limiting attempts to abuse the benefit.

This audit focused on whether the Public Health Agency of Canada improved its administration of mandatory quarantine orders to limit the introduction of the virus that causes COVID‑19 and the virus variants into Canada from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, the period beginning after the conclusion of our previous audit on this topic. The audit also focused on how the agency implemented and enforced the following additional border control measures introduced in early 2021: COVID‑19 testing for travellers entering Canada, and quarantine of air travellers at government-authorized hotels pending the results of their on‑arrival COVID‑19 tests.

This audit focused on whether key federal organizations built the maritime domain awareness needed to respond to safety and security risks and incidents associated with increasing vessel traffic in Arctic waters. The federal organizations deemed key to the surveillance of Arctic waters and included in the scope were Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, National Defence, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. We also included Public Services and Procurement Canada for its supporting role in central purchasing and contracting for items such as vessels.

This audit focused on whether selected federal organizations protected Canada’s food system during the COVID‑19 pandemic by effectively designing, delivering, and managing programming to help reduce food insecurity in Canada through the Emergency Food Security Fund, the Surplus Food Rescue Program, and the Nutrition North Canada subsidy program; and to support the resilience of food processors in the agriculture and agri‑food and the fish and seafood sectors through the Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund and the Emergency Processing Fund.