2025-2026 Response to parliamentary committees and external audits
Response to parliamentary committees
The Standing Committee on Science and Research 2nd report entitled "Science and Research in Canada's Arctic in Relation to Climate Change" was presented to the House of Commons on September 15, 2025. The report provided 20 recommendations for the Government of Canada to strengthen science and research capacity in Canada's Arctic, especially in order to address climate change and its impacts. In particular, the Committee recommends the development of a comprehensive Arctic research strategy to identify priorities and long-term goals for Arctic research in Canada. The Government Response was presented to the House of Commons on January 26, 2026.
The Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples' 12th report entitled "Missing Records, Missing Children" was presented to the Senate on July 25, 2024. The report made 11 recommendations to improve access to residential school records. The key message of the report is that the Government of Canada needs to support Indigenous communities to locate and access residential school records. The Government Response was presented to the Senate on March 19, 2026.
Response to audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (including audits conducted by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)
Report 1—Registration Under the Indian Act: This audit focused on whether Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) effectively and efficiently managed the registration process under the Indian Act. There were no recommendations for CIRNAC. (Tabled June 10, 2025).
Horizontal Internal Audit of Procurement Governance: This audit focused on the frameworks for managing procurement within departments and across government, not on the compliance of individual contracts. There was one recommendation for CIRNAC. The departmental response to address the recommendation can be found in the report, in the section titled "Recommendation and Responses" (Tabled in March 2025).
Response to audits conducted by the Public Service Commission of Canada or the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
There were no audits in 2025–26 requiring a response.