WCB2024-021 - RFP External Audit Services

The Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia (WCB) is requesting proposals from auditing firms to provide external audit services. The WCB requires an annual audit of the financial results, with a proactive and cost-efficient approach. The WCB follows International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The proponent will co-ordinate with internal audit (as needed), and work within the WCB technology environment in a cohesive manner. The proponent will audit WCB’s financial results and seek to help grow our capabilities, offering recommendations to our Finance, Audit & Risk Committee (FARC) that can improve results.

The scope of the WCB audit includes:
• more than $450 million in revenue,
• $2.4 billion in investment assets, and
• $2.7 billion in insurance contract liabilities as of December 31, 2023.
There are significant individual transaction volumes annually at WCB:
• 300,000 revenue payments received,
• 1.3 million total unique transactions per year,
• 670,000 medical aid transactions annually.
• 630,000 benefit-based transactions annually.
• 700,000 payments made per year,
• 10,000 payments made to administrative vendors supporting the operational budget.

The financial statements and management discussion and analysis for December 31, 2023 will be provided to fully assess the impact of the IFRS 17 implementation on the WCB’s financial results and the financial reconciliation from IFRS 17 to the former method IFRS 4, disclosed in the 2023 financial statements. This will be made public by the Minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration in late summer/early fall 2024. Please contact Ryan English (4.5.1) to obtain a copy in confidence and under a non-disclosure agreement. The 2022 Annual Report is available on the website at 2022 Annual Report (wcb.ns.ca) - we note that these financial statements do not reflect the transition to IFRS 17. The evaluation team will verify all submitted proposals against the mandatory criteria.