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Government of Canada responds to the Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Canada Revenue Agency call centresOTTAWA, June 13, 2018 /CNW/ - Canadians expect and deserve a fair and user-friendly tax system—one that gives them clear, accurate and timely information. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) understands that Canadians' expectations of service have evolved and, while the CRA has made significant strides, there is still more work to do. On June 12, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue, tabled the Government of Canada's response to the report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts entitled, "Call Centres – Canada Revenue Agency," part of the 2017 Fall Reports of the Auditor General of Canada. In doing so, Minister Lebouthillier accepted all the recommendations in the report and reiterated the Government's commitment to improving the service that the CRA's call centres offer to Canadians. To better serve Canadians, the CRA is implementing a three-point action plan to ensure the Auditor General of Canada's recommendations are adopted: focusing on modernizing technology, improving agent training, and updating service standards. This action plan, supported by investments in service from Budget 2016, is already delivering results. This tax-filing season, 74% of calls made to the CRA's Individual Tax Enquiries lines were answered (45% by an agent, and 29% by automated service) compared to 37% for the 2015 tax-filing season (30% by an agent, and 7% by automated service). While this represents a sign of improvement, the CRA will continue working to further meet the evolving expectations of Canadians. In addition, Budget 2018 invested $206 million over five years starting in 2018-19 and $33.6 million per year ongoing for the CRA to enhance service excellence. Quote "The Canada Revenue Agency understands how important its call centre service is to Canadians. Each year, the vast majority of Canadians must interact with the Agency in one way or another. Although most interactions are now online, our call centres remain acrucial way for our clients to reach us. Our government has chosen to invest in the Agency's services and our investments are starting to pay off. My priority remains that the Agency treat Canadians as important clients and not just taxpayers." -The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue Quick Facts
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SOURCE Canada Revenue Agency |