Item - 2024.AU4.1

The Audit Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council direct that Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (February 8, 2024) from the Auditor General remain confidential in its entirety, as it contains information explicitly supplied in confidence to the Auditor General (through the City or one of its agencies or corporations) by another level of government or a Crown agency and financial information supplied in confidence to the Auditor General which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization.

Tara Anderson, Auditor General, gave a presentation on Auditor General's 2023 Annual Report - Demonstrating the Value of the Auditor General's Office.

This report provides information about the Auditor General's Office 2023 activities and the financial and non-financial benefits achieved by the City through its implementation of report recommendations.

In 2023, the Auditor General's Office presented eight audit, investigation, cybersecurity, and other reports. The findings and recommendations in these reports focused on:

- strengthening the safety of the City's IT systems and critical infrastructure against cyber attacks, including those of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)

- improving how the City procures and manages its Winter Maintenance contracts and holds contractors accountable to the contract terms

- improving the management of contracts and costs of modular housing built to address the housing needs of residents

- strengthening Toronto Building’s inspection function which contributes to safe buildings

- minimizing asset failures and delays of TTC Streetcars through improving the TTC’s Overhead Asset maintenance and repair program

- providing lessons learned for large Information Technology projects of the City, including the Enterprise Work Management Solution (EWMS)

Additionally, our Forensic Unit managed 1,054 complaints through our Fraud and Waste Hotline and conducted some complex investigations, including an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing regarding the building inspections of two houses.

Every year, we demonstrate the value our Office brings with a quantified return on investment. The City has achieved cumulative one-time and annually recurring savings projected over a five-year period totaling $387 million (as reported in our 2019 to 2023 Annual Reports) by implementing our recommendations. The cumulative cost of operating the Auditor General's Office from 2019 to 2023 was approximately $32 million. Based on these numbers, for every dollar invested in the Auditor General's Office there was a return of about $12.

Equally important is the value that our reports bring through the non-quantifiable benefits, including enhanced cybersecurity and internal controls, robust data analytics, improved policies and procedures, more effective management and use of City resources, better customer service, and stronger security of City assets. Our reports also help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of programs, systems and processes, the impacts of which are not always easily quantified in financial terms.