Auditor General Finds CRA Not Providing Timely, Accurate Information to Callers

Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan waits to appear before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) in West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sept. 23, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

The Canada Revenue Agency’s contact centres are not providing callers with timely and accurate information about taxes and benefits, the auditor general says.

Auditor General Karen Hogan tabled six reports in the House of Commons on Oct. 21, including one specifically on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). It says that while the agency’s standard is to answer 65 percent of calls within 15 minutes, callers waited on average 31 minutes to speak with an agent in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Only 18 percent of callers spoke with a contact centre agent within 15 minutes. Meanwhile, only 5 percent of calls met the 15 minute standard in June 2025.

“In a system where it is the responsibility of taxpayers to provide information on a timely basis to the CRA, people should be able to contact, if need be, the agents of the CRA and… expect to get an exact answer and exact information during a reasonable time frame,” Hogan said while presenting her report to the public accounts committee on Oct. 21.

The audit found the CRA deflected approximately 8.6 million calls in the 2024-25 fiscal year, up from roughly 1.4 million calls deflected during the previous year. More than 4 million calls were deflected in April 2025 alone. 

While the CRA reported that on average 77 percent of callers were satisfied with their call experience, the auditor general found customer complaints increased by 145 percent from 2021-2022 to 2024-25. 

Auditors from the auditor general’s office placed test calls to the CRA’s contact centres to examine the accuracy of their responses to general tax questions. They found the agents accurately responded to business tax or benefits questions 54 percent of the time, while responses to individual tax questions were accurate only 17 percent of the time. Answers to account specific questions were much more accurate.

Auditors were also not provided with real-time updates on their queue position when they called the contact centre, which the auditor general says limits the caller’s ability to judge whether to wait, use the self-service options, or disconnect.

Moreover, the audit found that when assessing contact centre agents’ performance, the agency placed greater importance on how closely agents adhered to their shift and breaks schedule than on the accuracy of the information provided to callers.

“The Canada Revenue Agency has a duty to help individuals and businesses meet their tax obligations and access benefits,” Hogan said in an Oct. 21 statement. “I am concerned that in spite of a new call system and other improvements, Canadians are still waiting too long to get answers to their tax questions.”

100-Day Plan

On Sept. 2, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne directed the CRA to implement a 100-day action plan to address its call centres’ service delays, which he called “unacceptable.”

Champagne said he asked the agency to take “concrete” steps to improve its service through measures such as reallocating and adding personnel, implementing a new call-scheduling system, and expanding digital services.

In an Oct. 20 update on its action plan progress, the CRA said it had increased its number of service representatives and answered 77 percent of calls from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3, which surpassed its goal of 70 percent.

Additionally, the agency said it has made other adjustments such as extending its online chat hours and updating its web content. The agency has also implemented a new “register again” option for users who lost access to their CRA account to be able to regain access without needing to call.

“I trust that the 100-day plan, as well as the responses to our recommendations, can only improve the situation for individuals trying to call the Canada Revenue Agency,” Hogan told the public accounts committee.

Speaking to reporters on Oct. 21, Secretary of State for the CRA Wayne Long acknowledged the agency’s service levels are “not where they should be,” but said he thinks the 100-day plan has had “spectacular results” so far. 

“We are making progress, and I’m pleased with where we are,” Long told reporters. “That being said, we’ve got a long way to go.”

The Conservatives responded to the auditor general’s report on the CRA, saying the agency has now hit “worse than rock bottom,” referring to comments Long made last month. Long had said the agency had “hit rock bottom” and “it can’t get much worse than it is now.”

“How is it that an organization so important to the smooth functioning of the country is failing to serve Canadians and, as the Auditor General notes, places greater importance on adhering to shift schedules and breaks than on the accuracy and completeness of the information provided?” Tory revenue critic Gérard Deltell said in an Oct. 21 statement.

Cybersecurity, Indigenous Services

The auditor general also tabled a report the same day that concluded “important gaps” remain in Canada’s cyber security defence systems, monitoring, and response during active cyberattacks, despite the tools the government has put in place to protect its networks and systems.

The audit found that the use of cyber security services is inconsistent across federal organizations, which has resulted in a “fragmented” cyber security landscape across the federal government. Coordination between organizations was found to be “insufficient” during active cyberattacks, extending the time attackers have access to public servants’ personal information.

“A coordinated and comprehensive approach to the government’s cyber security posture, better collaboration and a current inventory of IT assets are key to safeguarding Canadians’ information and maintaining their trust in government IT systems,” Hogan said in an Oct. 21 statement, noting cyberattacks are becoming “more sophisticated and frequent.”

Hogan also tabled a report indicating Indigenous Services Canada has made “unsatisfactory” progress in addressing long-standing issues such as those related to drinking water, emergency services, and other programs.

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty told reporters on Oct. 21 that the auditor general has looked at her department with a “critical lens,” but she sees the report as “a pathway forward.” She said her department will respond to the report with an action plan.

The department had committed to implementing 34 recommendations in audits from 2015 to 2022, but the auditor general found the department hadn’t made sufficient progress in addressing 53 percent of the recommendations.

“There’s a lot of work, and I think that Indigenous Services Canada really needs to rethink how they approach engaging and working with First Nations,” Hogan said before the public accounts committee.

Child Care, National Defence

The auditor general’s office also carried out an audit that found that while Employment and Social Development Canada has achieved its goal of lowering the cost of early learning and child care spaces, it may not be on track to achieve its target of sufficiently increasing the number of spaces. Additionally, the audit found the department was more than four years behind in reporting its results to the public.

Hogan’s office also found that the Department of National Defence is not managing living accommodations to meet the needs of members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and their families. The department doesn’t have reliable information about its accommodations and many of its accommodations were found to be in poor physical condition.

Defence Minister David McGuinty told reporters on Oct. 21 that his department is “working actively” to improve the military housing situation, noting the department purchased an apartment building in British Columbia last week for CAF members and intends to either build or retrofit roughly 850 units.

In addition, the auditor general found the CAF has not recruited and trained enough members to meet its operational requirements. Hogan said the CAF’s challenges in attracting and training enough recruits could impact the army, navy, and air force’s ability to respond to threats, emergencies, or conflicts.