Background/Context:
Ornge is a regulated not for profit company that provides air and land ambulance services under an agreement with the Ministry of Health and Care.Included in the functions of Ornge are the roles inherent in the procurement, maintenance, dispatch, staffing and operation of a fleet of land ambulances, fixed wing and rotor wing .The medical teams provide services aboard aircraft and vehicles staffed with highly trained paramedics and pilots.
Ornge has over 600 employees, including paramedics, pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, transport medicine physicians and dispatch personnel.
The Ornge group of legal entities consists of:
- Ornge;
- Ornge Issuer Trust [the "Trust"];
- Ornge Global Air Inc. [“Ornge Air”];
- 7506406 Canada Inc.;
- 4495128 Canada Inc.; and
- Ornge Foundation.
Note:
While the above are legal entities currently in existence, the majority of financial transactions are with entities 1, 2 and 3. The remainder are non-operating entities.
Ornge is seeking proposals for the provision of internal audit services. Ornge partially outsources its internal audit function to an external service provider which also acts as its Chief Audit Executive (“CAE”). The CAE reports functionally to the Finance & Audit Committee (“FAC”) of the Board of Directors and administratively to the Chief Financial Officer. In addition to execution of audits, the internal audit service provider conducts joint reviews/audits with Ornge’s Finance team from time to time; provides advice to Ornge’s Risk Management Team; as well as act as the independent ethics officer responsible for managing Ornge’s whistleblower program (including providing a communication channel, reporting, and assisting with investigations under the whistleblower program as required).
MNP LLP is Ornge’s external financial auditor and PricewaterhouseCoopers is the incumbent internal auditor. External financial audit field work is completed in December for the interim audit and April/May for the year end audit. Internal Audit field work tends to occur outside of these months. SAP is the ERP System. The Payroll provider is ADP and Ramco is the system used by the Aviation group. Ornge is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care with additional revenues derived from organ recovery transports, donations, out of province patients and tuition revenues. Funding remains relatively stable from year to year.
Ornge has an enterprise risk framework in place and the enterprise risk register is updated on a regular basis. There are normally 4-5 assignments per year, usually one per quarter for the outsourced internal audit service provider. The number can vary depending on scope of the audits. Each audit averages 100 – 150 hours. Subject matter experts may be required from time to time, e.g. IT security, environmental risk, facilities, HR etc. The results of the audits are reported in the quarterly FAC meetings. Ornge’s Internal Audit Charter is covered under the FAC Charter. Internal audit currently falls under the responsibility of the Finance and Risk Management departments.
No material weakness or significant deficiencies in internal controls have been identified since 2013. Operating budgets will be provided to the successful proponent upon contract award. At the current time all the finance functions are located at 5310 Explorer Drive in Mississauga, Ontario. Past audits have included reviews of business processes and controls, IT system security, supply chain management and payroll.
The following documents will be provided to proponents upon successful completion of Section 3.1 along with the Non-Disclosure Agreement found in Appendix F:
- March 31, 2017 consolidated financial statements;
- Whistleblowing Policy;
- Finance & Audit Committee Charter (including the Chief Audit Executive mandate); and
- Enterprise Risk Register.
Once completed and signed, the document must be returned to the Ornge Contact. Prior year consolidated financial statements are located at the following URL, https://www.ornge.ca/about-us/publications/annual-reports.
Please visit Ornge’s website at www.ornge.ca for additional information about the organization structure.
Services
Proponents must have experience in the following areas:
- Enterprise risk management;
- Evaluation of internal controls (including information technology systems controls);
- Whistle blower program;
- “value for money” audits;
- Presentation to board of directors; and
- Broader Public Sector Directives
It is Ornge’s intention to select one potential firm to provide all of the service categories:
- Assurance Services (Internal Audit);
- Business Risk Services;
- Controllership and Business Advisory Services including value for money audits;
- Information Management (“IM”) and Information Technology (“IT”) Audits;
- Investigative and Forensic Accounting Services;
- Act as Chief Audit Executive; and
- Act as Independent Ethics Officer managing Ornge’s Whistleblower Program
Upon successful completion of the award process, the selected firm will be required to enter into a Contract for Internal Audit Services and will be assigned work for the service as required. It is Ornge’s intention to obtain the audit services for a three (3) year period subject to annual review with an option, in favour and at the discretion of Ornge, to renew for two additional terms of one (1) year each.
