Item - 2021.AU8.3

The Audit Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council receive the report (February 2, 2021) from the Auditor General for information.

The Auditor General gave a presentation on Auditor General's 2020 Annual Report - Demonstrating the Value of the Auditor General's Office.

This report provides information on the Auditor General's Office 2020 activities and financial and non-financial benefits achieved by the City through its implementation of report recommendations.

In 2020, the Auditor General's Office completed 7 audit and investigative and several other reports. We managed the City's Fraud and Waste Hotline with a new complaint management system that allows staff and members of the public to better provide information online, while maintaining anonymity.

The Auditor General's Office calculates the return on every dollar invested in the Office by comparing the ratio of five-year audit costs to the cumulative estimated five-year realized savings. Since 2016, total one-time and projected five-year cost savings and revenue increases are approximately $385.3 million. The cumulative costs of operating the Auditor General's Office since 2016 were approximately $30.3 million. For every $1 invested in the Auditor General's Office, the return on investment was approximately $12.70.

The identification of cost savings and increased revenue is only one component of the Auditor General's mandate. Equally important is the ongoing evaluation of governance, risk management and internal controls, the impacts of which are not always easily quantified in financial terms.