OTTAWA — A recent report from Auditor General Karen Hogan reveals that the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) call centers are still struggling with accuracy and reliability, despite significant investments since a critical audit in 2017. The report, published on Tuesday, indicates that agents provided incorrect information 87 percent of the time when responding to inquiries about general individual tax information.

Hogan expressed concern over the ongoing issues, stating, "I’m worried that despite a new telephony system and other improvements, Canadians still wait too long to get answers to their questions on tax." The audit found that Canadians waited an average of over 31 minutes to speak with an agent, which is more than double the agency's service standard of a 15-minute wait.

The report highlights that when callers finally reached an agent, they often received inaccurate responses. For inquiries related to general benefits or business taxes, the accuracy rate was only slightly better, with auditors receiving correct information about half the time. This stark contrast is notable when compared to the CRA's own claims, which have reported call accuracy rates exceeding 87 percent since 2019.

"Enhancing the accuracy of responses to callers is essential—not only to resolve callers’ issues efficiently but also to build trust and confidence in the tax system," the report states. However, Hogan noted that accuracy rates improved significantly for account-specific inquiries, reaching as high as 98 percent.

The 2017 audit by then-Auditor General Michael Ferguson revealed that the CRA's call centers had blocked half of the incoming calls to meet service standards for wait times. Ferguson also found that agents provided incorrect information 30 percent of the time, and 64 percent of calls went unanswered.

In response to these findings, the Liberal government allocated $50 million to enhance call center services and promised improvements by 2018. However, the CRA subsequently lowered its service standard from answering 80 percent of calls within two minutes to 65 percent within 15 minutes.

Seven years later, the quality of service at the CRA's call centers has been described as having hit "rock bottom" by Wayne Long, the secretary of state responsible for the CRA. He stated, "It can’t get much worse than it is now."

Additionally, the government pledged an extra $400 million in the 2022 Fall Economic Statement to support the agency's contact centers for the current and following fiscal year. This funding was intended to help the CRA maintain its service standard of answering 65 percent of calls within 15 minutes.

However, Hogan's audit indicates that both the number of contact center employees and the percentage of calls answered within the 15-minute window have declined from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024. This raises concerns about the effective use of the allocated funds. In June, CRA data revealed that only five percent of calls met the agency's service standard.

"Since 2019–20, the agency has met its service standard only once — in the 2022–23 fiscal year," the audit states. This shortfall limits callers' access to agents and undermines the CRA's commitment to providing complete, accurate, clear, and timely information as outlined in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Hogan emphasized the connection between the number of employees at the call center and the agency's responsiveness. The number of call center staff has steadily decreased since 2022-2023, which has coincided with a drop in service standard rates. Some improvements noted in 2017 have been made, as the agency now blocks only a small fraction of calls, with 48,000 blocked out of over 32 million calls in 2024-2025.