Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Comité permanent des comptes publics

For immediate release

Ottawa, May 03, 2018 -

Health Canada was found to be deficient in determining how much of a difference it was making on the oral health of Inuit and First Nations Canadians through the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program, despite the fact that it monitored and analysed the program, according to a report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts presented today in the House of Commons by the Hon. Kevin Sorenson, Chair of the Committee.

In the fall of 2017, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) released a performance audit that examined whether Health Canada had reasonable assurance that its oral health programs for eligible Inuit and First Nations people had a positive effect on their oral health.

The audit concluded that, in addition to not adequately measuring the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program’s effectiveness, there were administrative weaknesses in how Health Canada managed the program. The OAG found that the Department was meeting its service standard for appeals 80 percent of the time but could not rely on information within the appeal database to confirm this. Furthermore, Health Canada did not always inform clients and service providers promptly about some of the changes it made to its services.

Additionally, the Department could not determine why both enrollment and services delivered had declined for the Children’s Oral Health Initiative.

In order to address these concerns, the Committee made six recommendations to help improve Indigenous Services Canada’s administration of oral health programs for indigenous Canadians.