1.4 Service arrangements relevant to financial statements

The CFIA relies on other organizations and their internal controls for the processing of certain transactions that are recorded in its financial statements, as well as, systems development and maintenance services:

• Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) centrally administers the payments of salaries.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) provides acquisition, system development and maintenance services for the information systems used in financial reporting.
• Shared Services Canada (SSC) was created on August 4, 2011 to consolidate, streamline and improve the government’s information technology (IT) infrastructure services, specifically email, data centre and network services for 43 federal departments and agencies. Effective November 15, 2011, the responsibility for email, data centre and network services, including associated resources, was transferred from the Agency to SSC. The administration and delivery of these services were shared during the 2011-12 transition period while SSC was being established.

1.5 Material changes in fiscal year 2011-12

Significant changes that have occurred during fiscal year 2011-12 are as follows:

• George Da Pont was appointed President and Mary Komarynsky was appointed Executive Vice-President on July 11, 2011.
• Peter Everson was appointed Vice President of Corporate Management Branch on July 4, 2011.
• Joe Freamo was appointed Chief Audit Executive on December 19, 2011.

Control environment of the Agency relative to ICFR

The CFIA recognizes the importance of setting the tone from the top to help ensure that staff at all levels understand their roles in maintaining an effective system of ICFR and are well equipped to exercise these responsibilities effectively. CFIA’s focus is to ensure that risks are well managed through a responsive and risk-based control environment that enables continuous improvement and innovation.

2.1 Key positions, roles and responsibilities relative to ICFR

Below are the CFIA’s key positions and committees with responsibilities for maintaining and reviewing the effectiveness of its system of ICFR.

President - CFIA’s President, as Accounting Officer, assumes overall responsibility and leadership for the measures taken to maintain an effective system of internal control. In this role, the President chairs the Senior Management Committee and is supported by the Executive Vice-President.