Item - 2025.AU8.2

The Audit Committee recommend that:

1. City Council receive the report (January 29, 2025) from the Auditor General for information.

Tara Anderson, Auditor General, and Elaine Au, Assistant Auditor General, Forensic Unit, gave a presentation on the Auditor General's 2024 Annual Report on the Fraud and Waste Hotline.

This report represents the 2024 annual report on fraud, waste and wrongdoing at the City including the activities of the Fraud and Waste Hotline Program (the Hotline Program). It highlights the complaints that have been communicated to the Auditor General’s Office. It does not represent an overall picture of fraud or other wrongdoing across the City.

In 2024, 679 complaints, representing approximately 1,050 allegations, were received by the Auditor General’s Office. This is a reduction from 2023 by approximately 36 per cent or 375 complaints, primarily the result of receiving fewer complaints outside of our jurisdiction (not related to the City of Toronto), as well as subsidy fraud complaints. Despite the decrease in the number of complaints, we continue to manage a high volume of allegations, which has remained relatively consistent over the past five years at an average of approximately 1,250 allegations per year.

The Hotline Program has helped to reduce losses and resulted in the protection of City assets. The actual and potential losses from complaints received from 2020 to 2024 are $2.0 million (actual losses) plus $1.1 million (potential losses) had the fraud not been detected. Additional benefits that are not quantifiable include:

- the deterrence of fraud or wrongdoing

- strengthened internal controls

- improvements in policies and procedures

- increased operational efficiencies

- the ability to use complaint data to identify trends and emerging issues, make results-oriented recommendations to management, and inform our Audit Work Plan.