Chief Financial Officer (CFO) - CFIA’s CFO reports directly to the President and provides leadership for the coordination, coherence and focus on the design and maintenance of an effective and integrated system of ICFR, including its annual assessment.

Vice-Presidents - CFIA’s Vice-Presidents in charge of program delivery are responsible for maintaining and reviewing effectiveness of their system of ICFR falling within their mandate.

Chief Audit Executive (CAE) - CFIA’s CAE reports directly to the President and provides assurance through periodic risk-based internal audits which can be instrumental to the maintenance of an effective system of ICFR.

Agency Audit Committee (AAC) - The AAC is an advisory committee that provides objective views on the CFIA’s risk management, control and governance frameworks. It includes three external members and was established in 2007.

2.2 Key measures taken by the organization

CFIA's control environment also includes a series of measures to enable its staff to manage risks well through raising awareness, providing appropriate knowledge and tools as well as developing skills and capacity. Key measures include:

• The establishment of the Office of Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution;
• CFIA’s Code of Conduct and CFIA’s Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code;
• Adopting the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector;
• Annual performance agreements with senior managers clearly set out financial management responsibilities;
• Training program and communications in core areas of financial management;
• Agency policies tailored to CFIA’s control environment;
• Documentation of main business processes and related key risk and control points to support the management and oversight of its system of ICFR;
• Active monitoring and quality assurance plans, and quarterly reporting for financial controls; and
• Periodically updated delegation of financial signing authorities matrix.

Assessment of the CFIA’s system of ICFR

The self-assessment is a systematic review conducted by management to provide assurance on ICFR.

3.1 Assessment elements

In support of the Policy on Internal Control, an effective system of internal control has the objective of providing reasonable assurance that:

• Transactions are appropriately authorized;
• Financial records are properly maintained;
• Assets are safeguarded; and
• Applicable laws, regulations and policies are followed.