Audit of Service to the Public

Audit of Service to the Public

in Both Official Languages

Follow-ups to Audits and

Inspections (regional visits)

Montreal - Toronto

March 2001Table of Contents
Page

1. Introduction 4

2. Background 4

3. Audit objectives 4

4. Scope 6

5. Approach 6

6. Audit results 7

6.1 Montreal 7

6.1.1 Canada Customs and Revenue Agency 7

6.1.2 Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) 11

6.1.3 Business Development Bank of Canada 14

6.1.4 Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) 17

6.1.5 Veterans Affairs Canada 22

6.1.6 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) 26

6.2 Toronto 30

6.2.1 Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) 30

6.2.2 Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) 33

6.2.3 Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) 37

6.2.4 Telefilm Canada 42

6.2.5 Industry Canada 46

6.2.6 Canada Industrial Relations Board 50

Appendix 57

Association consulted in the audit 57

Audit of Service to the Public

in Both Official Languages

Audit Program

Follow-ups to Audits and Inspections (regional visits)

1. Introduction

This audit is part of the audit activities conducted by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) to ensure that the Official Languages Act (OLA) and TBS official languages policy are being implemented. Certain federal institutions (located in Montreal and Toronto) that have previously been audited or inspected are subject to this new audit. The goal of this audit is to determine whether the public can communicate with and receive services from these institutions in the official language of its choice, in accordance with the Official Languages Act and the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations.

This section presents the background to the audit and the objectives, scope, approach used, results, conclusions and recommendations.

2. Background

In her audit report on official languages in the Canadian sports system, the Commissioner of Official Languages asked the Treasury Board Secretariat to review its official languages audit methodology in order to ensure that the programs audited not only comply with established administrative controls, but also are effective in achieving program objectives. To that end the President of the Treasury Board informed the Commissioner that the TBS would be establishing a plan of activities that included the goal of following up on audits and inspections. In addition to this report, two other similar reports are being published: one on the Halifax and Moncton regions, and one on the Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg regions.

3. Audit objectives

The audit objectives were established under Part IV of the Official Languages Act, which deals with the obligations of federal institutions, and third parties acting on their behalf, concerning service to the public. The audit objective was to determine the extent to which the institutions in question are fulfilling their service to the public obligations under the Official Languages Act, the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations and government policy.

Another audit objective is to determine, as applicable, the extent to which the offices selected have corrected any deficiencies related to service to the public that were identified in previous audits or inspections. The study also seeks to determine whether these organizations have maintained a level of performance that is judged adequate.

4. Scope

The audit covered six federal institutions in each of the cities of Montreal and Toronto.

For each location visited, we carried out three types of audit:

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  a telephone audit: a call outside business hours (where they are not continuous) to check whether there is a Call Answer system in both official languages, and a call during business hours to check whether active offer really exists and whether service can be obtained in both official languages;
  
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  an in-person audit at the site;
  
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  an audit of the Internet sites.
  

5. Approach

The following steps were completed during the audit:

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  Meet with the Treasury Board Secretariat official languages representatives to discuss the audit parameters.
  
• 
  Choose six offices that were previously audited, or if necessary inspected in a regional visit by the TBS.
  
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  Identify any complaints against the selected offices filed with the Commissioner of Official Languages since the previous audits.
  
• 
  Develop an audit program including interview questionnaires (in person and by telephone), covering the same points as the previous audits.
  
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  Determine to what extent the Internet sites of the institutions involved give the same information in both official languages, and if necessary determine the extent to which the public can communicate with them in both official languages.
  
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  For each office chosen, identify the points that gave rise to an observation, and check what measures have been taken following the audit or inspection.
  
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  Check the level of client satisfaction among the representatives of the minority community, in terms of delivery of services in the client's preferred official language (develop a questionnaire, and conduct on-site interviews).
  
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  Make telephone calls to check active offer in the offices covered.
  
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  Check active offer, postings and signage in the federal offices in question.
  
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  Interview those in charge of the offices visited.
  
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  Check postings, documentation and the linguistic capability of the institutions in question.
  
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  Compile and analyse the data collected in the telephone calls, meetings with the minority community representatives, and visits to the offices covered.
  
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  Group the data by regions, prepare three reports and make recommendations as appropriate.
  
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  Send the draft reports to the offices in question to obtain their comments, and incorporate the feedback into the final reports.