Summary of the Joint Audit and Evaluation of the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements Program

About the Program

In the event of a large-scale natural disaster, the Government of Canada provides financial assistance to provincial and territorial governments (PTs) through the DFAA program, administered by Public Safety Canada (PS).

Since the inception of the DFAA in 1970, the Government of Canada has contributed more than $6 billion in post-disaster assistance to help PTs with the costs of response and of returning infrastructure and personal property to pre-disaster condition. Over half of this has been contributed in the last ten years of the program.

 What We Examined

This engagement is a joint audit and evaluation project. Given the importance of the DFAA to the Department it was determined that the oversight provided by both audit and evaluation would be useful in supporting the program. The purpose of the engagement was to examine the progress made by the DFAA in achieving outcomes and assess the relevance of the DFAA with regards to the continuing need for the program and the alignment with current disaster management principles. The engagement also assessed the governance, risk management and internal control processes supporting the management and delivery of the DFAA. The engagement covered the period from fiscal year 2016-17 to 2020-21.

Engagement Findings

Recommendations

It is recommended that, in line with ongoing work in the Department including the DFAA Program Review, PS should:

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