2026

February 26, 2026 – Auditor General Delivers Report on the Province’s 2025 Financial Statement Audits

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered her  report on the province’s 2025 Financial Statement Audits to the House of Assembly, in accordance with the requirements of the Auditor General Act, 2021. The report outlines observations and opportunities for improvement across the public sector, which were identified and communicated to government and its entities in 2025. The report also provides details on the financial health of the province, based on the information contained in the Public Accounts.

“The way the province manages its financial and operational responsibilities is critical to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. My role is to examine how well government manages its responsibilities, and my team often identifies opportunities for improvement during their financial statement audit work,” commented Auditor General Hanrahan. “I encourage government to give careful consideration to the 132 recommendations in this report, especially those 57 that I am noting again, and to take the appropriate action.”

2025 marked the province’s 31st unqualified audit opinion on its financial statements, meaning the province’s Consolidated Summary Financial Statements were presented fairly, in all material respects. The full report can be found by visiting the link below and additional details can be found in the Backgrounder below.

“This year’s report also includes several focus areas, such as how the province recognized the recent national tobacco settlement and my observations about two land transactions, external legal services, and budget transfers. I encourage government to take the necessary steps to remedy these issues and ensure the best solutions are found,” added Auditor General Hanrahan.

2025

December 4, 2025 – Auditor General Delivers Report on Outstanding Performance Audit Recommendations from 2018 to 2022

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today tabled a monitoring report on outstanding performance audit recommendations to the House of Assembly. The report covers reports issued from 2018 to 2022 and provides a status update on audit recommendations. The Office of the Auditor General undertakes performance audits, also known as value-for-money audits, that examine how well the provincial government and its entities manage resources and operations. Performance audits seek to determine if specific programs or functions are working as intended and they offer recommendations for improvement.

“Recommendations are a vital component of audit reports, and it is essential departments and entities fully implement or otherwise resolve them,” added Auditor General Hanrahan. “The number of unresolved recommendations – after seven years – highlights ongoing gaps that require attention. Of particular concern are entities that continue to have low implementation rates years after the recommendations were issued, such as those from the 2019 audit into provincial wellness priorities at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation and the 2020 recommendation to the Department of Justice regarding conflict of interest.”

The Office of the Auditor General monitors previous performance audit report recommendations over seven years. An initial follow-up is conducted approximately two years after the release of a report, followed by continuous monitoring annually for an additional five years or until recommendations are fully implemented or otherwise resolved. While three reports from 2017 with seventeen outstanding recommendations are no longer being actively monitored, they will be considered for new audits in late 2026.

September 8, 2025 – Auditor General Issues Public Accounts Audit Opinion 

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, has issued an unqualified (clean) audit opinion of the province’s 2024-25 financial statements, known as the Public Accounts.

“I am pleased to have issued my Office’s 31st consecutive unqualified audit opinion” commented Auditor General Hanrahan. “I would like to sincerely thank my team and the team at the Office of the Comptroller General for their extreme efforts to release the province’s financial information prior to the provincial election.”

Public Accounts are prepared in accordance with the standards established for governments by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada. While no audit opinion is offered regarding the financial statement discussion and analysis report ‘Understanding the Financial Health of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador,’ the Auditor General encourages the public to read that report as it provides valuable context and trend information. Specifically, this analysis report and the notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (Volume 1 of the Public Accounts) provide details on the operating deficit of $296.6 million, net debt of $18.4 billion, and total liabilities of $34.4 billion, as well as information on the accounting treatment of the recently awarded tobacco settlement.

Insights into the 2025 Public Accounts audit, including recommendations for improvements, will be provided in the upcoming Auditor General Report on the Province’s 2025 Financial Statement Audits.

July 29, 2025 – Auditor General Delivers Report on the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary’s Management of Inventory and Employee Training

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a performance audit report to the House of Assembly on the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary’s management of inventory and employee training. The report contains findings and recommendations regarding the Constabulary’s failure to effectively manage inventories and employee training. Consistent failure to comply with its own inventory and training policies over the course of the audit was underscored by inconsistent, informal, outdated, and incomplete policies and procedures.

“The public holds the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in a place of high regard, and as an organization they are held to a higher standard than many others given their mandate and responsibilities,” remarked Denise Hanrahan, Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador. “The nature of RNC work is sensitive and often dangerous; so are the items in their inventories. We found items – from service weapons to evidence used in criminal proceedings – that were not managed with the thoroughness I would have expected, increasing risk of loss or unauthorized access.”

Regarding training, the audit found the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary did not have a comprehensive, up-to-date mandatory training list and the training documentation requirements or monitoring processes were weak. The Constabulary was also not aware of which trainings were required for which officers, and when it did, it was challenging to show if that training had been completed.

June 25, 2025 – Auditor General Delivers Report on Health Sector Contracts

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a performance audit report to the House of Assembly on health sector contracts phase one – nursing agency contracts. Today’s report contains findings and recommendations regarding Newfoundland and Labrador Health Service’s inability to effectively procure and manage agency nursing contracts worth over $240 million; how the health authority failed to ensure value for money; as well as details on how the authority failed to adequately plan for agency nursing usage.

The audit found that invoice payment processes and conflict of interest protections were seriously flawed. For example, the audit identified almost $4 million worth of potential overpayments, from a small sample of seven per cent of invoices paid over two and a half years. Three out of four of these sampled invoices lacked the proper documentation to support payment. Further, the audit found that Health Services did not require employees to sign a code of conduct or conflict of interest agreement at hiring or annually nor did they train their staff about their responsibilities in these areas.

“While Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services has reduced the quantity of agency nurses working today, it has not reduced their overall cost, with spending per quarter similar to past periods with less travel nurses engaged,” continued Auditor General Hanrahan. ‘I am very concerned about its ineffective administrative management, with the acceptance of poor documentation, unrealistic budgeting, ineffective planning and potential conflicts of interest resulting in a system that costs taxpayers money.”

April 1, 2025 – Auditor General Delivers Report to the Public Accounts Committee on Audit of Personal Care Homes

Auditor General, Denise Hanrahan, delivered a performance audit report to the Public Accounts Committee today on matters related to personal care homes in the province. The audit was initiated at the request of the Committee in December 2023 pursuant to section 22 of the Auditor General Act, 2021, following concerns that previous recommendations of the Auditor General related to personal care homes remained outstanding at that time.

The audit found serious issues with the program delivery and oversight of the provincial personal care home program. Outdated operational standards are being used and the department has increasingly distanced itself from oversight responsibilities. There appeared to be a culture of acceptance within the department and the health authority towards the ongoing backlog of overdue resident care reassessments. Incidents and compliance violations were also found to be pervasive and personal care home relicensing was found to be too subjective, with homes often relicensed while carrying unresolved or persistent compliance issues. Neither Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services or the Department of Health and Community Services disclose the nature or number of personal care home instances of non-compliance publicly.

The Public Accounts Committee shares the concerns of the Auditor General on these matters and remains committed to following up on behalf of the Legislature and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to hold concerned entities accountable for correcting deficiencies identified. The Committee will be contacting Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services and the Department of Health and Community Services to request an action plan for implementation of the Auditor General’s recommendations and to advise that officials may be invited to appear at a future public hearing with respect to these matters.

March 19, 2025 – Auditor General Delivers Report on Medical Care and Dental Health Plans

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a performance audit report to the House of Assembly on the Medical Care Plan (MCP) and Dental Health Plan. Today’s report contains findings and recommendations, many similar to those identified in a 2014 audit of MCP, regarding the ineffective compliance function, information technology issues, and an overall lack of program oversight.

“I am concerned that the Department of Health and Community Services is unable to ensure public health care funds are distributed appropriately to health care providers – doctors and dentists – for the services they provide to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Even more concerning, the issues I’ve identified in this audit report are some of the same issues that were reported in 2014, and I have yet to receive a reasonable explanation for why these issues are outstanding more than a decade later,” commented Denise Hanrahan, Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The audit found the department failed to make significant progress on the oversight issues identified in 2014. Further, high-risk areas, such as the failure to complete disaster recovery and business continuity plan testing, were identified; as well as the lack of processes to prevent or detect double payments with Workplace NL. In addition to the MCP IT system being old and complex, it may also not be entirely reliable, with a third of the claims processing rules we tested either serving no purpose or not working properly. The internal audit function within the department is also ineffective and underutilized.

“Aging digital infrastructure is as concerning as aging physical infrastructure,” added Auditor General Hanrahan. “The age and complexity of MCP’s systems contribute to inefficiencies, frustration for providers, and increased risks from error or fraud. Yet the internal audit function, which is meant to mitigate that risk, does not use the tools and processes available. With low productivity, procedural problems and insignificant recoveries, I question the effectiveness of the department relying on their internal audit function as an oversight measure for the MCP program.”

February 27, 2025 – Auditor General Delivers Report on the Province’s 2024 Financial Statement Audits

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered her report on the province’s 2024 Financial Statement Audits to the House of Assembly, in accordance with the requirements of the Auditor General Act, 2021. The report provides her audit opinion of the Consolidated Summary Financial Statements, and outlines observations and opportunities for improvement across the public sector, that were identified and communicated to government and its entities in 2024.

“As a legislative audit office, my team often identify opportunities for government to improve in areas such as accounting practices, governance, internal controls, or compliance with policies, legislation, and regulations,” commented Auditor General Hanrahan. “This report also includes my observations on the financial health of the province, select health sector retention and recruitment bonuses, salary overpayments and fraud reporting.”

2024 marked the province’s 30th unqualified audit opinion on its financial statements, meaning the province’s Consolidated Summary Financial Statements were presented fairly, in all material respects.

“This year’s report highlights 95 points, of which approximately 30 per cent remain unresolved from prior years, which concerns me. I encourage government to take the necessary steps to remedy the issues I have outlined and ensure the best resolutions are found in a timely manner” added Auditor General Hanrahan.

January 21, 2025 – Auditor General Delivers Report on Memorial University’s Facilities Management

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a performance audit report to the House of Assembly on Memorial University’s facilities management. Today’s report contains findings and recommendations regarding Memorial’s inability to efficiently manage systematic infrastructure issues; findings on inadequate policies and procedures intended to guide deferred maintenance; as well as details on the mismanagement of funding specially designated to addresses current and future maintenance needs.

“Memorial has a responsibility to ensure the best use of public money across its entire operation. We found weaknesses in organizational structures that reduced Memorial’s ability to adequately manage its facility requirements. Furthermore, Memorial did not effectively manage deferred maintenance and it was discouraging to find that regular preventative, as well as deferred maintenance, were not done at the appropriate and recommended times, which would have maximized the benefits of available funding,” commented Denise Hanrahan, Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador.

January 13, 2025 – Auditor General Delivers Report on Outstanding Performance Audit Recommendations

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a monitoring report on outstanding performance audit recommendations to the House of Assembly. The report covers reports issued from 2017 to 2021 and provides a status update on performance recommendations. The Office of the Auditor General undertakes performance audits that examine how well government and its entities manage resources and operations. Performance audits seek to determine if specific programs or functions are working as intended and offers recommendations for improvement.

“Recommendations are a critical part of our audits, and it is reasonable to expect that departments fully implement recommendations within three years of an audit being issued. However, this year’s monitoring indicates that one in three recommendations (thirty-seven per cent) from 2017 to 2021 remain outstanding. Even more alarming is that two out of three of those (sixty-two per cent) are over five years old,” commented Denise Hanrahan, Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Office of the Auditor General monitors previous performance audit report recommendations over seven years. An initial follow-up is conducted approximately two years after the release of a report, followed by continuous monitoring annually for an additional five years or until recommendations are fully implemented or otherwise resolved.

2024

2023

December 14, 2023 – Auditor General Agrees to Undertake Performance Audit of Personal Care Homes and Long-Term Care

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today acknowledged a request from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to audit matters related to personal care homes and long-term care in the province. The Auditor General has agreed to the request from the Committee, which is a result of concerns expressed regarding the status of outstanding recommendations from previous audits, some of which are nearly a decade old.

In April, the Auditor General delivered a monitoring report on outstanding performance audit recommendations to the House of Assembly. The report covered audit reports issued from 2014 to 2020 and provided a status update on those recommendations. Ongoing monitoring will be included in the Auditor General’s upcoming Annual Report. In addition to this audit and the continuous monitoring of prior year performance audit recommendations, the Office of the Auditor General is also undertaking performance audits of OilCo Newfoundland and Labrador, crown lands, the Medical Care Program, the operations of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, housing supply management, expenditures of members of the House of Assembly, as well as Memorial University’s facilities management.

October 19, 2023 – Auditor General Delivers Report on Memorial University

Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered the audit report on Memorial University, as per the Provincial Government’s request in the Order in Council OC2022-088.

The report was subsequently released by the Provincial Government on October 23rd and is available here.

September 28, 2023 – Auditor General Releases Performance Audit of the High Sheriff’s Office 

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a performance audit on the Office of the High Sheriff to the House of Assembly. The audit reports on findings and recommendations regarding the Office’s financial processes, staffing complement and competencies, security systems, and departmental oversight. The audit period was from April 2020 through December 2022.

The audit concluded that the Department of Justice and Public Safety did not provide effective oversight in support of the Office’s responsibilities and legislative requirements. The Office also did not have the financial control processes or related staff competencies and complement to fulfill its operational responsibilities for receiving and distributing court-ordered payments. In addition, the audit determined that the department was slow to respond to critical financial reporting and vacancy issues, and as of April 2020, annual audits had not been completed since 2017. Prior to January 2022, there was limited evidence to indicate that Justice and Public Safety took steps to address this issue.

June 21, 2023 – Auditor General Releases Performance Audit of the Innovation and Business Investment Corporation

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a performance audit of the Innovation and Business Investment Corporation to the House of Assembly. The audit reports on findings and recommendations regarding the Corporation’s grant, loan, investment, and COVID-19 support programs and whether the programs were effectively managed and administered. The audit period was from June 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021.

The audit concluded that the Corporation did not effectively manage all aspects of its grant, loans, and investment programs, thereby increasing the risk that ineligible businesses were supported or that funds were used for incorrect purposes.  The Corporation did manage its loan and investment assessment processes well. However, it did not manage executing and issuing loans and investments effectively. It was found that COVID-19 programs did not receive effective oversight, and as a result, some businesses received more funding than they were entitled to, while financial support was also given to ineligible organizations. There were also inconsistencies between the Corporation’s public and internal guidelines, which resulted in inconsistency across applicant funding decisions.

May 24, 2023 – Auditor General Releases Performance Audit of the Food Premises Inspection and Licensing Program

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a performance audit of the Food Premises Inspection and Licensing Program to the House of Assembly. The audit reports on findings and recommendations regarding whether the program has effective management, monitoring, and oversight by the Departments of Health and Community Services and Digital Government and Service NL. The audit period was from April 2019 through December 2021. The audit concluded that the Department of Health and Community Services did not maintain proper oversight of the program, while the Department of Digital Government and Service NL did not effectively manage some aspects of the program’s operations, possibly increasing the overall risk to public health.

April 27, 2023 – Auditor General Delivers Report on Outstanding Performance Audit Recommendations

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a monitoring report on outstanding performance audit recommendations to the House of Assembly. The report covers audit reports issued from 2014 to 2020 and provides a status update on those recommendations. The report is also a response to discussions the Auditor General had with the Public Accounts Committee, which inquired about the status of outstanding recommendations.

February 23, 2023 – Auditor General Delivers 2022 Annual Report

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered her 2022 Annual Report to the House of Assembly, in accordance with the requirements of the Auditor General Act, 2021. The report provides observations on the audit of the Consolidated Summary Financial Statements; an update on the status of recommendations from four 2019 performance audit reports; the final report on government’s financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and an update on the operations of the Office.

2022

December 7, 2022 – Auditor General Releases Performance Audit of Adult Custody and Community Corrections

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a performance audit of the Department of Justice and Public Safety’s Corrections and Community Services Division to the House of Assembly. Today’s audit reports on findings and recommendations regarding adult custody and community corrections. The audit concluded that the department was inadequate in its efforts to appropriately and consistently manage adult offenders in custody and in community arrangements. The department also did not provide adequate rehabilitation programming, with outdated adult custody policies and incomplete risk assessments, for incarcerated offenders and those on probation or conditional sentence order conditions.

November 16, 2022 – Auditor General Releases Performance Audit of Nalcor Energy 

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered the second of two reports to the House of Assembly on the performance audit of Nalcor Energy. Today’s report contains findings and a recommendation regarding Nalcor’s employee compensation. The audit concluded that Nalcor’s management and executive employees’ total compensation was, and continues to be, higher than the total compensation of comparable provincial government positions. Since Nalcor’s executive and management positions that were reviewed had the same accountability, problem-solving, and know-how classification ratings as equivalent provincial government positions, no rationale could be determined for such discrepancies.

October 6, 2022 – Auditor General Releases Performance Audit of Nalcor Energy 

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered one of two reports to the House of Assembly on the performance audit of Nalcor Energy. Today’s report contains findings and recommendations regarding Nalcor’s discretionary expenses, conflict of interest processes, and the use of embedded contractors.

January 31, 2022 – Auditor General Delivers Annual Report

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered her Annual Report to the House of Assembly. The report provides observations on the audit of the Consolidated Summary Financial Statements; an update on the status of recommendations from two 2018 performance audit reports; an unaudited report on government’s financial response to the pandemic; and an update on the operations of the Office. The full report can be found by visiting the link below.

2021

December 2, 2021 – Auditor General Acknowledges Release of the Report on Physical Mitigation of Muskrat Falls Reservoir Wetlands

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today acknowledged the release of the report on the Physical Mitigation of Muskrat Falls Reservoir Wetlands to the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Assembly. The report is the result of a request from the Public Accounts Committee to examine whether a breakdown in communication resulted in wetland capping not preceding prior to reservoir flooding at Muskrat Falls.

November 2, 2021 – Auditor General Supports Amendments to the Auditor General’s Act

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today acknowledged and supported the proposed changes to the Act Respecting the Office of the Auditor General and the Auditing of the Public Accounts of the Province.  Revisions to the Act will enhance the scope of the Office of the Auditor General’s work by making it the default auditor for all agencies of the Crown and Crown-controlled corporations.

September 29, 2021 – Office of the Auditor General – Auditor General Acknowledges Release of the Report on the MV Veteran and MV Legionnaire

Auditor General, Denise Hanrahan, acknowledged the release of the report on the MV Veteran and MV Legionnaire to the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Assembly today. The Report is the result of a request from the Public Accounts Committee to the Auditor General to review the process used during the construction of the two vessels, as well as subsequent mechanical issues the vessels experienced after entering service.

August 4, 2021 – Auditor General Delivers MV Veteran and MV Legionnaire Report to the Public Accounts Committee

April 30, 2021 – Office of the Auditor General – Province’s Fiscal Situation Remains Challenging

Auditor General, Denise Hanrahan, delivered her report to the House of Assembly today on the audit of the financial statements of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador for the year ended March 31, 2020. In her first report on the audit of the province’s financial statements, Ms. Hanrahan shares observations about the financial condition of the province and highlights certain risks that affect the province’s fiscal outlook.

April 29, 2021 – Media Advisory: Auditor General to Deliver Annual Reports to the House of Assembly

Releases prior to 2021 can be found by visiting the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador New Release Website.