Government Benefit Phone Lines Underfunded, Over Capacity: Briefing Note

Service Canada documents displaying Employment Insurance options. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

The federal government is receiving more calls from Canadians making financial benefit inquiries on its 1-800 telephone lines than it has capacity to answer.

Government employees have said there are so many calls, even 150 operators are not able to keep up, according to a June 28 briefing note, 1-800-O-Canada.