While the government has invested millions in Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) call centres in recent years, taxpayers still only have a 50–50 chance of talking to a live agent within 15 minutes, according to an agency report.
In 2020–2021, wait times often exceeded an hour during peak periods, or more than three hours to reach specialized agents, according to a 2022 briefing for the minister of national revenue. Only 33 percent of calls were answered within the target service standard of 15 minutes.
The government made investments, building on a $206 million commitment made in 2018, to hire more staff and upgrade call centre capacity ahead of 2022. CRA was able to boost service to have 54 percent of calls answered within 15 minutes, according to a recently published report on service standards for 2022 viewed by Blacklock’s Reporter….