Provincial Audit Committee

Overview

The Provincial Audit Committee (Committee), created under the Auditor General Act as an advisory committee to the government and the Auditor General, is composed of up to 6 private sector members and the President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance.

The Committee, under its terms of reference (PDF, 130 KB), reviews and advises the government on issues relating to:

• financial statement presentation and disclosure
• accounting policies and pronouncements
• non-financial performance information
• reviewing and advising on matters related to reports from the Auditor General

The Committee also reviews and advises on any matter related to the financial affairs of the Crown in accordance with a request of the President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance.

Nomination process

1. A review panel is formed to assess potential candidates.
   
   The review panel generally includes the current Chair of the Committee as a member external to government.
2. The review panel prepares a short list of candidates for the President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance’s consideration.
3. Appointments to the Committee are made by Cabinet and Order in Council.
4. The President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance’s office notifies selected candidates.

Membership criteria

Committee members come from a variety of backgrounds in management, finance, professional, academic, and/or business sectors. Members have a complementary mix of skills and experience to help the Committee fulfill its mandate.

Committee members should be well regarded in their communities, have senior status in their profession and, as a group, have:

• financial literacy, meaning the ability to read and understand complex financial statements and accounting issues
• a strong understanding of governance
• an understanding of the public sector decision making process and accountability framework, including the unique role of this Committee
• independence, including an unbiased perspective on the matters brought before the Committee
• a guarantee that their employment or involvement in other activities will not place them in a conflict of interest position – see Conflict of Interest Code (PDF, 131 KB).
• effective communication skills
• strong support for ethics
• senior level experience in large organizations addressing strategic and conceptual issues

In making its recommendations, the panel takes into account the experience and background as well as geographic balance of the current membership.

Compensation disclosure

Public sector bodies are required to post online the names and compensation paid to:

• all committee members
• please note: employees who support the committee are from Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, so their disclosures are included in the Government of Alberta salary and severance disclosure as appropriate

This is a requirement under the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act. The postings are required by June 30 each year.

Compensation disclosure file

Download the Provincial Audit Committee's compensation disclosure (CSV, 3 KB).