A recent report by the auditor general reveals significant deficiencies in the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) contact centres, where delays in answering calls and the provision of inaccurate information to customers are prevalent issues. Despite the CRA’s commitment to answering 65% of calls within 15 minutes, only 18% were adhered to in the 2024-25 period, dropping to less than 5% in June.
During the assessment conducted by the AG’s office between February and May, 167 test calls were made to the CRA, revealing an average wait time of nearly 33 minutes to reach an agent. The overall time spent on hold and with an agent to resolve queries averaged around 50 minutes. The CRA’s own data suggested a significant increase in the time taken to reach an agent, with an average of 31 minutes, double that of the previous year.
Moreover, the report highlighted that CRA call centres redirected approximately 8.6 million calls last year, a substantial rise from the 1.4 million calls redirected in the previous year. This redirection, along with other service issues, led to a sharp 145% increase in customer complaints between 2021-22 and 2024-25, despite the CRA reporting a 77% satisfaction rate among callers surveyed.
The auditor general suggested that the CRA should enhance its call triage system, particularly for issues related to the agency’s online portal, MyAccount. Many calls were found to be related to users being locked out of the digital platform, thus tying up agent resources.
Furthermore, the report highlighted the prevalence of inaccurate information provided by CRA agents to taxpayers. Only 17% of non-account-specific or general tax-related questions were answered accurately, while accuracy rates for benefit and business tax inquiries barely passed at 56% and 54%, respectively. Even the CRA’s chatbot, Charlie, was accurate in responses only a third of the time.
The auditor general raised concerns about the lack of efforts by the CRA to improve accuracy, noting that only 2,200 hours were spent on coaching, feedback, or training in 2024-25, averaging less than 30 minutes per agent annually.
In response to the findings, Liberal MP Wayne Long, the secretary of state for the CRA, mentioned the launch of a 100-day service improvement plan in September. While acknowledging the need for improvements, Long emphasized the agency’s commitment to enhancing call response rates and overall service quality.
Additionally, the auditor general’s report covered various other audits, including challenges in military recruitment, issues with military housing systems, and the slow progress in Indigenous Services Canada programs. Despite some progress in addressing these issues, the report highlighted ongoing deficiencies and the need for immediate action.