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April 8, 2026

April 8, 2026

9:30 a.m. to noon

Virtual Meeting

Members:

  • Janine Sherman, External member – Chair
  • André Grondines, External member
  • Caroline Maynard, Information Commissioner

Secretary to the Committee:

  • Michael Walsh, Financial Management Advisor

Regular attendees:

  • France Labine, Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Services, Strategic Planning and Transformation Services, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Audit Executive (CAE)
  • Véronique Desjardins, Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Services, Strategic Planning and Transformation Services, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Audit Executive (CAE)

Senior Management Committee:

  • Rachel Laurin, Senior Director for Layla Michaud, Deputy Commissioner, Investigations and Governance
  • Marie-Josée Montreuil, Executive Director and General Counsel, Legal Services
  • James Ellard, Senior Director, Communications and Public Affairs

Guests:

  • Sébastien Lafond, Senior Director, Information Management, Audit, Finance, Procurement, Administration and Security
  • Patrick Charbonneau, Principal, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Meeting Summary

  • Approval of Minutes
  • 2026-27 Strategic Planning Update
  • Presentation of 2025-26 OAG Audit Plan
  • Updates from the Sectors

1. Welcome and Opening Remarks

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. The Commissioner introduced Véronique, the new Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Services, to the committee members and thanked France for her contribution to the OIC and the AEC.

2. Minutes and Action Items from previous Meeting

The minutes for the November 2025 meeting, the action items from the previous meeting, and the 2026 Forward Calendar were approved.

Action item:

  • Minutes to be published on the OIC website

3. 2026-27 Strategic Planning Update (Priorities, Innovation, Risks)

Sébastien outlined the 2026-27 operating context and presented the key elements of the updated Corporate Risk Profile, which was revised to reflect significant shifts since its development in 2025-26. He noted that while the OIC is exempt from the government-wide Comprehensive Expenditure Review, broader spending reductions across the public service could still impact internal operations. Sébastien highlighted the most critical risks for the upcoming fiscal year, discussed workforce evolution and succession planning, and concluded with an overview of major IT and innovation projects slated for 2026-27. The Commissioner provided more details on the legislative review to the Access to Information Act. She also explained the importance and impact the planned IT projects will have for OICs' employees.

Action item:

  • None

4. 2025-26 OAG Audit Plan

Patrick presented the OAG's Audit Plan for their audit of the OIC's 2025-26 Financial Statements. He confirmed the independence of the OAG audit team from the OIC. He also highlighted changes to Public Sector Accounting Standards coming up for 2026-27, the planned audit approach, and additional work planned over IT systems.

Action item:

  • None

5. Corporate Services Update – (2026-27 budget allocation, discussion on the Values & Ethics Program & the Report on Wrong-Doing)

France provided background information on the Comprehensive Expenditure Review and Early Retirement Incentive. She also indicated that the OIC is forecasting a surplus for 2025-26 which will be used to manage financial pressures and fund IT projects in 2026-27. She highlighted a change to the planned order of evaluations in the OICs Risk Based Audit and Evaluation Plan over the next four years. She also summarized changes made to the OICs Value and Ethics program. Finally, she indicated that she was not made aware of any instances of fraud, wrongdoing, or harassment over the last year.

Action item:

  • None

6. Investigations Update

Rachel summarized the results of the Investigations sector for 2025-26. She stated that the OIC exceed the target for many objectives and were very close for most others. She highlighted that the OIC was able to close more complaints than were received in the year, and able to reduce both the number and age of complaints in the OIC's inventory.

Action item:

  • None

7. Legal Services Update

Marie-Josée presented information on the volume and types of litigation the Legal Services team dealt with in 2025-26. She also explained the amount of work required for different types of litigation. She also explained that the Legal Services and Corporate Services team are working together to improve the Legal Services' tools to make their work more efficient.

Action item:

  • None

8. Public Affairs Update

James summarized the work performed by the Public Affairs team over the last several months, in particular numerous meetings and parliamentary appearances. He highlighted that by using new tools, the Linguistics Services team greatly reduced the cost of translation.

Action item:

  • None

In Camera Session

An in-camera session was held.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be scheduled for late June or early July.

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