Auditor general returns for 5th Nunavut family services audit
Followup to gauge improvements to territorial government’s handling of kids in care
Family Services Minister Gwen Healey Akearok says a followup audit of her department’s handling of kids in its care has started. (File photo by Daron Letts)
Canada’s auditor general is taking another look at the Nunavut government’s handling of youths in its care after 15 years of troubling audits.
Family Services Minister Gwen Healey Akearok announced Thursday in the legislative assembly that a fifth audit has commenced.
Previous audit reports found numerous problems, including one finding from 2023 that the department could not provide an accurate count for the number of children and youths in its care.
Previous audits were released in 2011, 2014, 2023 and 2025.
Former family services minister apologized in October 2023 for the department’s failure to protect children in its care.
The territorial government also released a strategic framework in February 2024 that included plans for better record keeping and goals to hire more community social service workers, among other improvements.
“The oversight of the auditor general’s office ensures that our progress is measured and that we can demonstrate meaningful improvement,” said Healey Akearok on Thursday.
“We welcome the Office of the Auditor General’s recommendations and continued oversight.”
Akearok Healey added her department is continuing its work to improve its delivery of family services, including internal auditing of files and a new centralized reporting framework called Matrix, which the department first announced in October 2023.
“We are also ensuring social workers and support staff receive regular training to use Matrix effectively for tracking and reporting,” she said.
Get a competent deputy minister.
Matrix is old news. There are much more relevant things you could discuss, such as when the hiring of people from south via contract (and paying them much more than locals) is going to be better regulated
There’s a reason why no Iqalimiut are employed at the Iqaluit Elders Home.
I know people who were told point blank that DFS would not support any adoption of Inuit by non-Inuit. Period. That is their policy. Does not matter whether it is in situations where children are in the care of the Director or it is via private adoption. They’d rather children who could otherwise have a loving family to rot in the system until they are 18.