Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Comité permanent des comptes publics

For immediate release

Ottawa, May 02, 2017 -

In its reporting on the Beyond the Border Action Plan—a horizontal initiative involving 18 departments delivering 34 initiatives—the federal government has demonstrated limited results towards enhancing security and accelerating the legitimate flow of trade and travel across the Canada-US border, according to a report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts tabled today in the House of Commons by the Hon. Kevin Sorenson, Chair of the Committee.

In the Fall of 2016, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada released a performance audit in which it examined whether selected departments and agencies were achieving the intended results of the Action Plan, and whether reporting on progress against the Action Plan was accurate and complete. The audit concluded that only limited results were achieved.

Specifically, the audit found that although the departments and agencies met many of the commitments of the Action Plan, they faced many challenges in carrying out the initiatives and lacked performance indicators to assess results. The audit also found that the Report on the Beyond the Border Action Plan Horizontal Initiative prepared by Public Safety Canada did not provide a complete and accurate picture of the progress, performance, and costs of the Action Plan. Consequently, the Committee has made eight recommendations that aim to ensure that the federal government addresses each of these concerns.