Audit of Contingency Plans for the Meteorological Service of Canada Weather Prediction Program

4.0 KEY AUDIT FINDINGS/RISKS

Traditionally the Meteorological Service of Canada has relied heavily on the professionalism and expertise of its staff, supported by detailed operational procedures for contingency planning, to maintain continuity of operations for the Weather Prediction Program.

This process has served the program well in the past. Sufficient audit evidence confirms that the program has never been shut down, and forecasts have never been missed because of unforeseen events.
However, the Weather Prediction Program faces an increasing risk that it will not be able to maintain continuous, uninterrupted operations without a more formal, standard and integrated contingency planning program.
The risk is being further complicated by such factors as these:
- Recent organizational changes have affected roles and responsibilities. For example, information technology is now the responsibility of the Chief Information Officer Branch; the 2005 departmental business impact analysis needs to be updated to reflect the new organization; and threat and risk assessments for the Meteorological Service of Canada have not been formally updated since 2000, although they are now being updated as part of the Treasury Board Secretariat Management of Information Technology Security initiative.
- Human resources pressures, such as upcoming retirements, increasing staff shortages and slow hiring/recruitment processes will affect operations.
- An increasing reliance upon new technology is having an impact on operations.
The Meteorological Service of Canada Weather Prediction Program is recognized as a government-wide mission-critical system and as such, should exhibit high levels of contingency preparedness, management and response.

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