The Auditor General of Canada (French: La vérificatrice générale du Canada[a]) is an officer of the Parliament of Canada to aid accountability and oversight by conducting independent financial audits of federal government operations. These audits provide members of parliament with objective evidence to help them examine the government's activities and hold it to account.
| Auditor General of Canada | |
|---|---|
| La vérificatrice générale du Canada | |
Karen Hogan since June 3 2020 | |
| Abbreviation | OAG |
| Reports to | Parliament of Canada |
| Nominator | Prime Minister of Canada |
| Appointer | Governor in Council |
| Term length | 10 years non-renewable |
| Constituting instrument | Auditor General Act |
| First holder | John Langton |
| Salary | $334,500/year (Equal to that of a Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada)[1][2] |
| Website | www |
| Bureau du verificauteur general du Canada | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1878 |
| Headquarters | C.D. Howe Building, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Employees | 552 |
| Annual budget | $88 million (2019)[3] |
Karen Hogan was appointed Auditor General of Canada in June 2020.[4] She replaced interim Auditor General of Canada Sylvain Ricard.
Auditors general are appointed by the governor general in council (cabinet) on advice of the House of Commons and Senate for a non-renewable term of ten years. An auditor general may only be removed for cause by the governor in council with the approval of both the House of Commons and Senate.
The auditor general's responsibilities include:
On November 4, 2011, the prime minister appointed Michael Ferguson, former Auditor General of the province of New Brunswick, as Auditor General of Canada, effective November 28, 2011. Sylvain Ricard, having been previously the deputy auditor general, was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 29, 2019, to serve until a permanent replacement was selected.[6]
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc. five years in a row (2008–2012), and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine.[7]
The commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, was created by Parliament in 1995 as an aide to the AGC, and has offices within the precinct of the AGC. The commissioner is empowered under the 1995 amendments to the Auditor-General Act to receive "petitions on environmental and sustainable development matters and [to] require ministers to respond to them".[8] The petition process requires the ministry to respond in 120 days, although the process may be delayed by litigation.[8]
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada is located in the C.D. Howe BuildinginOttawa.
The role of auditor general was introduced in 1878 and prior to the creation it was the head of the audit board (1867–1878).
In 1971, the auditor general's office hosted VII INCOSAI, the seventh triennial convention of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions.[9]
| Auditor general | Appointed | Departed |
| John Langton[b] | 1867 | 1878 |
| John Lorn McDougall | 1878 | 1905 |
| John Fraser | 1905 | 1919 |
| Edward Davenport Sutherland | 1919 | 1923 |
| Georges Gonthier | 1924 | 1939 |
| Robert Watson Sellar | 1940 | 1959 |
| Andrew Maxwell Henderson | 1960 | 1973 |
| James J. Macdonell | 1973 | 1980 |
| Michael H. Rayner[c] | 1980 | 1981 |
| Kenneth M. Dye | 1981 | 1991 |
| Denis Desautels | 1991 | 2001 |
| Sheila Fraser | 2001 | 2011 |
| John Wiersema[d] | 2011 | 2011 |
| Michael Ferguson | 2011 | 2019 |
| Sylvain Ricard[e] | 2019 | 2020 |
| Karen Hogan[10] | 2020 | Incumbent |
