OTTAWA, May 11, 2022 –
The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited (FBCL) welcomed the findings of a 2022 special examination by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG).
In its report, the OAG concluded that they found no significant deficiencies for FBCL and that the corporation manages its bridge assets and operations well. The audit covered topics such as corporate governance, strategic planning, corporate risk management practices, management of bridge assets and bridge operations of the company.
The report is a strong report card for FBCL’s corporate management practices and management of bridge assets and operations. These findings are even more important as the OAG completed its Special Examination works at the height of the corporation’s pandemic response and in the midst of continuous adaptation to a volatile business environment.
The main objective of the audit was to determine whether the systems and practices at FBCL were providing it with reasonable assurance that the Corporation’s assets were safeguarded and controlled, its resources were managed economically and efficiently, and its operations were carried out effectively, as required by section 138 of the Financial Administration Act (FAA). The FAA requires Crown corporations to undergo a special examination of their systems and practices at least once every 10 years.
FBCL, which was created under the Canada Business Corporations Act by amalgamating the legacy corporation of the same name with 2 other bridge corporations in 2015, namely the St. Mary’s River Bridge Company and the Blue Water Bridge Authority, is extremely pleased with the results of its first special examination after amalgamation Natalie Kinloch, FBCL’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “The results of this audit provide further indication of the strong leadership and engagement of employees throughout the corporation and demonstrates the alignment with FBCL’s mandate. This provides further external validation of the positive work of the corporation, as most recently demonstrated by maintaining its A+ credit rating with Standard & Poor’s, despite a worldwide pandemic. FBCL is proving on a daily basis that it can deliver on its mandate and scale operations when the need arise to bolster bi-national trade capacity.”
The corporation has agreed with the recommendations and responded to the suggestions for improvements in the special examination report. As such, it will further enhance its oversight processes, add precision and linkages between performance targets and mandate specific strategic objectives, bolster its risk management documentation and continue the digitalization of its asset inventory.
The Office of the Auditor General special examination report on The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited can be found online at www.federalbridge.ca/examinations/