Day One: Tuesday, November 22, 2022
10:00 EST
15 minWelcome and Opening Remarks from the Chair
10:15 EST
45 minThe Evolution of Internal Controls in the Government of Canada
- Historical context giving rise to the Policy on Internal Control and its evolution
- The journey from Internal Controls over Financial Reporting (ICFR) to Internal Controls over Financial Management (ICFM)
- What’s next: Leveraging data to modernize governance and oversight
- Central agency support for effective systems of internal controls
11:00 EST
45 minEvaluating Internal Controls Across the Procure-to-Pay Process
Isabelle Roberge, Senior Manager, Risk Assurance Services, PwC Canada
This session will cover how the UiPath process mining tool was used to evaluate the Procure-to-Pay process for a major government department. Topics will include process mining functionalities including:
- Exploring variations in the process
- Identifying inefficiencies with root cause analysis
- Reviewing automation opportunities, and accessing process non-conformance
11:45 EST
45 minWhen and How ERM can inform Internal Control Design and Monitoring
- Identifying your organization’s approach to ERM
- Avoiding duplication and contradictions
- Using risk tolerance to inform control design
- Tips on using ERM reporting to anticipate and avoid surprises
12:30 EST
60 minBreak
13:30 EST
45 minFinancial Governance and Controls in Indigenous Nations and Institutions
John Lees, Partner, Indigenous Governance and Business Transformation, Orbis Risk Consulting
- Financial governance and internal control in indigenous nations and institutions
- Reconciliation and Inherent Rights, and considerations for government funders
- First Nations financial control standards and assessment regime
- Moving to nation-to-nation Fiscal relations with First Nations
14:15 EST
45 minInternal Controls to Monitor Progress in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Internal Controls to identify gaps and monitor DEI progress
- The need for quantifiable goals to increase accountability
- What metrics are required?
15:00 EST
15 minBreak
15:15 EST
45 minUsing Fraud and Waste Hotlines to Identify Internal Control Weaknesses and Opportunities
- Examples of success stories
- Tools to differentiate actionable control issues from other issues
- Lessons learned
16:00 EST
End of Day One
Day Two: Wednesday, November 23, 2022
10:00 EST
15 minWelcome and Opening Remarks from the Chair
10:15 EST
45 minInternal Control Considerations When Outsourcing to Third Parties
Nina Grimes, Partner, Deloitte LLP
Nicole Dufresne Baker, Director, Risk Advisory / Government and Public Service (GPS), Deloitte LLP
This session will provide high level insights for managing internal controls when relying on third parties.
- Mitigating outsourcing risks by setting standards for outsourced providers
- What level of due diligence is required?
- Public sector obligations in outsourcing
- Confidentiality and security issues
- Contractual terms when dealing with the private sector
11:00 EST
45 minData Analytics, Quantitative Risk & Internal Controls
- Our journey with data analytics across 40 large Federal Departments and Agencies
- Transforming and Analyzing financial transactional data
- Identifying risks or control failures through the actions of people
- Visualising internal control results using a risk-based approach in PowerBI (demo)
11:45 EST
45 minPublic Sector Board Perspective on Internal Controls
Carmen Abela, Managing Director, WindReach Consulting Services Inc.
- Board’s responsibility to ensure management is implementing and enforcing internal controls
- Monitoring management’s response to control deficiencies and weaknesses
12:30 EST
60 minBreak
13:30 EST
45 minBuilding Resilience into your Financial Controls Monitoring Program
Kristann Rose, Owner and Principal Consultant, KER Consulting Inc
- Identifying issues and providing insights in real time
- Navigating internal control programs through changes and challenges
- Driving efficiency through strong processes and digitalization
- Leveraging a three lines of defence approach to optimize assurance
14:15 EST
45 minProgram-level Risk Assessments to Improve Program Delivery
Nina Ramful, Senior Program Advisor, Employment and Social Development Canada
Richard Spitz, Business Strategies Consultant, Employment and Social Development Canada
- Introduction to program risk assessment and tools
- Implementation strategy
- Examples of program improvement
- Lessons learned from the pilot implementation of the Program Risk Assessment
15:00 EST
15 minBreak
15:15 EST
45 minPreventing Benefits Fraud in the Public Sector
Gary Askin, AVP, Fraud Risk Management, Sun Life Financial Canada
Employers and their insurance providers are reeling at the proliferation of fraud rings — groups of employees who work together to abuse and exploit benefit plans, with medical services providers as their eager accomplices. Find out:
- What long-standing auditing weaknesses allows this sort of brazen abuse to go unchecked?
- What went wrong with internal controls – what controls were in place but ignored?
- Control delusion – there is a control but it is not being exercised?
- Role of data scientists
- Solutions: Using an artificial intelligence program to spot fraudulent claims
- Solutions: The approved providers network
16:00 EST
End of Day Two