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CNSC Action Plan in Response to the Treasury Board Secretariat MAF Assessment Round VII

CNSC Action Plan in Response to the Treasury Board Secretariat MAF Assessment

MAF Indicator /
Line of Evidence

TBS Rating

CNSC Action Plan

Closure

Status

Quality and Use of Evaluation

Opportunity for Improvement

Quality of Evaluations Opportunity for Improvement With the introduction of the new Evaluation Policy in April 2009, the CNSC is reallocating resources to strengthen the function. Options for structure of the Evaluation function were discussed by the CNSC Management Committee and it was agreed that the function would be located within the Strategic Planning Directorate and that the Audit Committee would also serve as the Evaluation Committee. It should also be noted that new positions have been created and will be staffed by the end of Q3 2010. December 31, 2010
In order to improve the quality of evaluations the CNSC will:
  • Realign Evaluation function to the Strategic Planning Directorate
Completed
  • Appoint head of Evaluation
Completed
  • Develop Evaluation Universe and Policy
Completed
  • Create CNSC Evaluation Advisory Committee
Completed
  • Apply risk assessment criteria to inform the 5 year plan
March 31, 2011
Usage Opportunity for Improvement

The CNSC is a high performance organization and, as such, is committed to continuous improvements through evaluation of its processes and performance. This is evidenced through recent Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) Mission.

The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) peer review was conducted by a team of international experts with direct experience in the areas being evaluated.

The mission assessed the organization, its governance, legislative framework, and its key program areas against international norms and best practices. The output of this exercise was a comprehensive report, prepared by international nuclear safety experts and published in the Fall of 2009, on the performance of the CNSC as a nuclear regulator. The findings and management response will help the CNSC make further improvements to its regulatory regime.

Ongoing

The Harmonized Plan of Improvement Initiatives (Harmonized Plan) was developed in response to findings and recommendations from the Talisman International LLC Lessons Learned report and the IRRS findings. This plan has evolved to include various internal and external audits and assessments conducted on the CNSC processes and will also include recommendations stemming from the evaluation function.

It brings together all corporate-wide improvement initiatives under a single umbrella; sets clear deliverables and assigns accountability to ensure that all commitments are met.

Ongoing
It should also be noted that the CNSC fully intends to evaluate in the next 5 years all ongoing programs of Gs&Cs. This will be reflected in the 5 year Audit Plan. Ongoing
A systematic and regular tracking of management action plans arising from evaluation recommendations is currently being implemented as part of quarterly reporting to Management Committee and inline with Harmonized Plan. Ensuring that periodic reporting on the status of implementation of the evaluation recommendations are in place. Ongoing
Effectiveness of Corporate Risk Management Acceptable

Implementation Opportunity for Improvement

The CNSC recently undertook a preliminary survey on risk management to determine the degree in which the organization was implementing the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's (TBS) Integrated Risk Management Framework (IRMF) and identify potential areas for management focus in moving RM forward within the organization.

Overall, the audit team found that CNSC has made strong progress in the last three years in implementing a more systematic approach to integrating RM into decision-making that is consistent with the expectations set out in the IRMF. CNSC officials have demonstrated risk awareness and a willingness to respond to opportunities to improve RM across the organization. CNSC has made progress to better integrate RM into strategic priority setting through the Harmonized Plan (HP) Initiative and apply RM across operational activities with the development of risk-informed decision making (RIDM) methodologies. There were, however, opportunities identified to further develop integrated risk management throughout the organization.

A management response to the survey has been drafted and will be implemented. The CNSC accepts the recommendation stemming from the MAF assessment and preliminary risk survey and will implement recommendations.

March 31, 2011

Currently the Management Committee is responsible for reviewing risks and ensuring mitigation strategies are in place. Risk management is used as a planning tool to inform the planning and priority setting exercise each fall, and the CNSC continues each year to improve the process. Directors general are consulted and lead the development of the enterprise risk profile at the CNSC. An updated risk profile will be presented in the Fall as part of the 2011-12 Planning process. The CNSC also intends to integrate a risk management approach horizontally across the organization and vertically through its ranks.

Since Summer 2009, the Centre of Excellence on Risk Management at TBS has been developing a new Framework for the Management of Risk, which articulates a government-wide, principles-based approach to risk management. This Framework was approved by Treasury Board Ministers on May 27, 2010, and will come into force at the end of August 2010. The CNSC intends to utilize this new Framework to reinforce and continue to integrate the risk management process within the organization.

March 31,
2011

Effectiveness of Financial Management and Control Acceptable
Authorities and Policies Opportunity for Improvement CNSC accepts the recommendations. Three key elements were identified in the MAF Round VII;
  1. User Fee Act

    • Failure to respect the Legislative reporting requirement to report under the User Fee Act. In the Departmental Performance Report (DPR). CNSC failed to report activities under the act. CNSC has ONLY the Access to Information activities that qualify under this act as CNSC licensing and compliance recovery activities do not fall under this act.

      Action taken:

      CNSC will ensure to distinctively report CNSC Assess to Information fees generated during a given fiscal year in its DPR.
Completed
  1. Hospitality 2005 Internal Audit Report - Findings

  2. The 2005 Hospitality Internal Audit Report highlighted that 6 hospitality transactions were processed without pre-authorizations.

    Action taken:

    Measures have been implemented to ensure that pre-authorized hospitality transactions are processed by FAD. Training have been developed and delivered to all management on this issue.
Completed
  1. Failure to respect the TBS Costing Policy. The MAF Round VII included a questionnaire where one question pertained to the TBS Costing Policy. Misinterpretation of that question led to a “Non answer” to that specific question. As a result, CNSC didn't get any marks in that area and therefore was perceived as not meeting the policy requirements.

    Nevertheless, CNSC has its own Cost Recovery Regulations that are in compliance with the TBS Costing Policy. In the post MAF Round VII Results debrief with TBS, TBS recognized CNSC's leadership in the costing arena among all government departments and agencies.

    Action taken:

    After discussion with TBS - No immediate action is required.
Completed
  1. TBS Financial Policy Renewal Framework

CNSC is supportive and approved the adoption of the TBS Financial Management Framework policy suite instead of developing its own Financial Management policies which includes:

  • Policy Framework on Financial Management;
  • Policy on Financial Management Governance;
  • Policy on Financial Resource Management, Information and Reporting ;
  • Policy on Internal Control; and
  • Policy on the Stewardship of Financial Management Systems.

CNSC agreed with the 2005 Hospitality Results. Actions have been taken and implemented.

Completed
Independent Reviews Opportunity for Improvement

The Office of Audit and Ethics has conducted an “Audit of Contracting and Procurement”. This audit report was tabled at the Audit Committee (AC) meeting in October 2009 and subsequently approved by the President. The OAE conducts a follow-up of the action plans that addressed the recommendations of the audit and brief the AC regularly about the status of their implementations. The audit report including the action plans has been sent to OCG and posted on CNSC's Web site.

Completed

The OAE has conducted an “Audit of CNSC travel and hospitality”. It will be tabled at the AC meeting for review and recommendations for approval by the President.

January 2011

The CNSC Risk-Based Audit Plan (RBAP) calls for an “Audit of Financial Guarantees and Decommissioning Funds”.

Fiscal year 2011-12
The CNSC Risk-Based Audit Plan (RBAP) calls for an “Audit of Cost Allocation”; and an “Audit of Financial Reporting Controls” for fiscal year 2012-13. It is noted that the RBAP is reviewed and updated yearly to address any emerging issues or priorities of the CNSC and the government. Fiscal year 2012-13

Effectiveness of Internal Audit Function

Acceptable

Progress

Opportunity for Improvement

The CNSC Audit Committee and the CAE have completed the required performance reports (CAE Annual Report; Audit Committee Annual Report) for the 2009-10 year. These reports will be provided to the OCG.

Completed

A Quality Assurance and Improvement Program (QA and IP) is being developed and will be implemented by March 31, 2011. March 31, 2011
A management action plan follow-up process has been implemented and progress updates are provided to the Audit Committee (AC) at each meeting. The details of the process and progress reports are made available to the OCG. Completed
The Office of Audit and Ethics is preparing an annual business plan which includes an integrated HR management strategy. This plan will be provided to the OCG. March 31, 2011

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