Work in Progress

About 5,000 spills are reported every year in B.C. Spills can cause significant harm to people and the environment. They commonly involve gasoline, diesel, and heating fuel, but can also include other hazardous substances, such as toxic gases or corrosives.  
 
Our audit will assess whether the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, through its Environmental Emergency Program, has effectively managed hazardous spills to protect the welfare of the public and the environment. 

We will look at several areas including: 

• Planning, response and recovery 
• Regulatory compliance
• Cost recovery 

For more information, watch the auditor general's announcement video.

Updated: April 2023

Performance audits assess and report on the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of provincial programs and services. We often include recommendations to help organizations improve.  

This year, our office will provide assurance on the progress organizations have made in completing accepted recommendations. Our first annual follow-up report, coming out this summer, will look at 18 audits completed between 2019 and 2021.

Updated: May 2023

Since 2016 – when B.C.’s provincial health officer declared a public health emergency because of a high number of deaths due to illicit toxic drugs – more than 11,000 British Columbians have died. 

We are conducting two audits of harm reduction services, which are a key part of the B.C. government’s response to the toxic drug crisis.

Our audits include: 

• overdose prevention and supervised consumption services, and 
• prescribed safer supply.

We will determine whether the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions and the Ministry of Health ensured the effective implementation of overdose prevention and supervised consumption services by health authorities. We will also conclude whether the ministries have effectively monitored the initial implementation of the prescribed safer supply initiative. 

Our auditors are looking at: 

• provincial strategic guidance, 
• monitoring, evaluation, and reporting, and 
• how challenges and barriers to implementation are identified and addressed.

We plan to release the audits together by early-2024. They replace a previously announced audit on substance use services.

For more information, watch the auditor general's announcement video.

Updated: March 2023

Cybercrimes are becoming progressively more sophisticated. This increases risk to the reputation, privacy, intellectual property, and financial resources of organizations, including B.C.’s post-secondary institutions. 

Universities and colleges depend on information technology to deliver their educational programs. They combine technologies, processes, and practices to protect networks and data. Each institution’s board of governors is responsible for oversight of cybersecurity risk management.

Our audit will look at whether Vancouver Island University ’s Board of Governors has provided oversight of its cybersecurity risk management practices.

We expect to release our report in summer 2023.

For more information, watch the auditor general's announcement video.

Updated: April 2023