Summary Financial Statements

Our office conducts the annual audit of the government’s Summary Financial Statements, as required by the Auditor General Act, which consolidate the financial results for the government reporting entity (GRE).

The GRE includes all organizations controlled by, or accountable to, the provincial government (e.g., ministries, Crown corporations, universities, colleges, school districts, and health authorities). The auditor general has authority to audit the financial statements of any organization in the GRE. The annual financial audit coverage plan identifies the organizations in the GRE that are to be audited by the auditor general and those that will be audited by outside accounting firms.

Our office is not required (or able) to audit every government organization. Some are audited by private sector auditors. However, the Auditor General must have sufficient understanding of government as a whole to provide an opinion on the Summary Financial Statements. To achieve this, our office prepares a financial audit coverage plan annually.