Executive Summary

The audit of the International Trade Personnel Program (ITPP) is an internal audit assurance engagement to report on management controls used to deliver ITPP, and to identify any opportunity for improvement that could be applied to future programs. The audit topic is identified in the Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) 2008 - 2011 Risk Based Audit Plan. To accommodate some operational efficiency, this audit was planned to be conducted simultaneously with the audit of a similar program, the First Jobs in Science and Technology. This report only covers the ITPP.

While using similar tools, criteria and audit programs, the objectives of the two programs were not the same. ITPP was specifically focused on the international commerce content of projects as opposed to the wide variety of science and technology projects in First Jobs in Science and Technology that could be both domestic and sometimes international nature. The graduate eligibility of ITPP was also more restrictive than permitted in the First Jobs in Science and Technology program.

The audit examined evidence of the effectiveness of management controls that were in place for the delivery of the ITPP program and to provide assurance to WD Senior Management whether or not payments made to recipients were in accordance with the terms and conditions of the program. The audit examined the extent to which management controls for the ITPP program met the standards and criteria established by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) Policy on Transfer Payments.

Findings

The audit found that the ITPP program was well managed during the audit period and until its discontinuation in 2005. Appropriate controls were established for disbursing payments to recipients in accordance with the terms and conditions of contribution agreements.

Results of the criteria examined are summarized as follows:

Criteria	Assessed Results
A business risk and management control framework exists	Criteria mostly met
Projects qualified for funding	Criteria met
The company and graduate were eligible and qualifies	Criteria met
WD complied with appropriate authorities	Criteria met
Claims and payments were supported by adequate documentation	Criteria met
WD performed sufficient due diligence throughout the project life cycle	Criteria mostly met

The audit work identified some opportunities for improvement. Most of the opportunities for improvement have already been implemented based on recommendations from other recent audit engagements on grants and contributions that have occurred since the ITPP program was eliminated in 2005. The specific gaps identified through this audit were:

• Risk levels, once assessed at the project approval stage, were not reassessed during the project life cycle;
• Insufficient documentation of risk mitigation strategies was documented on file when unusual circumstances were encountered; and
• There was a general lack of evidence in measuring project results.

Conclusion

In summary, controls established for the ITPP program by management were effective in design and operated satisfactorily. Based on internal audit standards and criteria selected, sufficient audit work has been completed and analyzed to support the conclusion that the management control framework for which WD management is responsible was appropriate for the size and risks of the ITPP program.

In accordance with the Government of Canada internal auditing standards, a reasonable assurance is provided that relevant and reliable management controls existed for the delivery of the ITPP program from 2002 through to 2005 when the program ceased.

In addition, opportunities for improvement have been identified in this report where those controls can be strengthened in order to mitigate risk and contribute to management excellence for any future programs of similar design and delivery.