Chapter 4: Program administration and delivery

From the date that the appeal is filed

• Standard: To make decisions within 45 days
• Target: The Social Security Tribunal (SST) aims to meet this standard 80% of the time
• Performance in 2022‑23: SST met this standard 7.4% of the time (compared to 68.8% in 2020‑21), with an average processing time of 113.1 days (compared to 42.9 in 2021‑22)
  • When including group appeals, the SST met this goal 7.2% of the time with an average processing time of 118.7 days

Following a hearing

• Standard: To make decisions within 15 days after a hearing
• Target: SST aims to meet this standard 80% of the time
• Performance in 2022‑23: the SST met this standard 61.2% of the time (down from 82.5% in 2021‑22^{Footnote 1}), averaging 17.7 days to issue a decision after the hearing compared with 9.0 days in 2021‑22
  • When including group appeals, the SST met this goal 59.4% of the time, averaging 18.6 days to issue a decision after the hearing
• For more information consult section 4.6.2

Leave to appeal decisions

• Standard: To make decisions within 45 days
• Target: SST aims to meet this standard 80% of the time
• Performance in 2022‑23: SST met this standard approximately 64.3% of the time (down from 95% in 2021‑22), with an average processing time of 41.3 days (compared to 23.1 in 2021‑22)
  • Including group appeals, the SST met this goal 53.9% of the time with an average processing time of 46.9 days

Final decisions

• Standard: To make decisions within 150 days of the leave to appeal decision
• Target: SST aims to meet this standard 80% of the time
• Performance in 2022‑23: the SST met this standard 80.8% of the time (compared to 93.9% in 2021‑22), with an average processing time of 105 days (compared to 89 days in 2021‑22)
• For more information consult section 4.6.2

Scheduled outreach sites

Scheduled outreach sites provide different points of service located in host sites within communities, on a scheduled basis. These sites offer services as an extension to SCCs^{Footnote 2}. To accomplish this, the Service Canada staff travels to a pre-determined location, typically in rural or remote areas, that are otherwise underserved.

During 2021‑22, the scheduled outreach sites were closed due to COVID‑19. However, an assessment exercise was conducted at the end of that year to ensure host communities and Service Canada were ready to safely reopen these sites. The reactivation of scheduled outreach sites was implemented in a phased approach^{Footnote 3}. As of March 31, 2023, 208 out of all 247 scheduled outreach sites had been reactivated.

In 2022‑23, the in-person service staff in scheduled outreach sites completed a total of 93,062 service requests, of which, 7,226 were related to the EI Program.

• ^*+/- due to rounding %

Community Outreach and Liaison Service

Another service provided by Service Canada to support at-risk populations is the Community Outreach and Liaison Service (COLS). This service focuses on building relationships with communities and stakeholders to facilitate the delivery of services to populations who otherwise may face barriers to access, are facing labour market adjustments^{Footnote 4}, or have been impacted by hazardous weather events. It provides expanded reach and scope to support vulnerable clients to have access to programs, services, and benefits provided by ESDC. COLS helps to create awareness of the programs and connects clients with EI personnel.

In 2022‑23, COLS continued to provide outreach to employers and workers facing labour market adjustments by offering EI application assistance, EI information sessions for those affected by mass layoffs, and program information for employers.

Through partnership with provincial and territorial governments, information sessions guide workers through the different steps and stages of applying and receiving EI. These sessions also include information on other federal programs and services, including the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), the Job Bank, and My Service Canada Account.

In 2022‑23, the COLS teams conducted 1,039 EI-related information sessions, to 12,921 participants.

• For more on COLS information sessions, consult annexes 4.3.1e–i

Service Canada Outreach Support Centre

The Service Canada Outreach Support Centre (OSC) is a toll-free service that acts as an alternate service delivery mechanism through which Indigenous, underserved, and at-risk populations can access Service Canada programs and services. Originally launched during the COVID‑19 pandemic as a stopgap measure, it is now a permanent service delivery option that ensures continuity of service when face-to-face interaction is not possible. Among its services, the OSC assists clients facing barriers to access with the completion of their EI applications and support in emergencies, such as during wildfires and flooding across the country. Furthermore, the OSC is expanding Service Canada's reach in communities by collaborating with various national and community partners to better support EI clients through transfers, including the 2-1-1 service and the Canada Revenue Agency's Individual Tax Filing Assistance line.

In 2022‑23, the OSC continued to connect clients with Service Canada representatives to receive assistance with enquiries regarding the EI program. It also provides support to hearing-impaired clients by enabling them to communicate directly, and in real time, with OSC staff through the VOCALLS system, using a teletypewriter (TTY).

In 2022‑23, the OSC received 24,500 calls and completed 28,789 service requests.

Of these service requests:

• 2,386 were for EI information
• 12,723 were for EI related service requests

In 2022‑23, the OSC surpassed its service standard (90% of calls answered within 5 minutes). 98% of calls were answered within 5 minutes, compared with 99% last fiscal year.

As of March 31, 2023, 468 unique Indigenous communities received services through the OSC. From these communities, 3,532 callers were assisted with 3,663 EI service requests, which include:

• 430 Information requests
• 471 Application assistance
• 2,762 Follow up / First Point of Contact Resolution

Service Referral Initiative

Service Canada leans on community organizations to help identify at-risk Canadians that may be eligible for federal services and benefits, including EI benefits. The Service Referral Initiative builds on Service Canada's and local organizations' shared commitment to helping those most in need. Community organizations have knowledge, connections, and build trust with certain segments of the Canadian population. Partnering organizations offer referral services to Canadians, such as sharing basic information on government benefits and services, including EI. And can also refer them directly to a Service Canada staff member through a form referral, or to the OSC for tailored support.

In 2022‑23, 736 referrals were made by 64 partners in every Service Canada region across the country, including 91 referrals related to EI.

Call volume

The EI Call Centre received almost 17.8 million calls in 2022–23 compared with 23.6 million calls in 2021–22. Reduced claim volumes overall contributed to this decrease of 5.8 million calls.

Text description

The EI Call Centre received almost 17.8 million calls in 2022–23

Interactive Voice Response system

The EI Call Centre is equipped with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. This system allows clients to self-serve by:

• authenticating themselves
• updating their access code
• checking their application status
• getting details about their file
• completing their biweekly claimant's reports

In 2022‑23, 56% of calls (10.0 million) were resolved^{Footnote 5} in the IVR system without the need to speak to an agent. This is a decrease in the percentage of calls resolved in the IVR, compared to 60% in 2021‑22, but remains higher than 2020‑21 (54%) (consult annex 4.3.2a).

Agents are available to guide clients through issues not resolved by self-service. For this reporting year, the top 5 reasons clients requested agent-assisted services were regarding:

1. Questions about the status of a claim/decision
2. Support to complete a claimant report
3. Support to complete an electronic claimant's report started through a self-service option
4. Help on how to file their application
5. Questions about the status of an expected payment

Calls answered

Coming off a historic peak in number of calls answered in 2021‑22, 2022‑23 saw a decrease of 1 million calls answered to 6.2 million calls answered by a call centre agent (consult annex 4.3.2b). The volume of new revisions of claims as well as revisions waiting to be processed remained high.

Text description

In 2022–23, EI Call Centre agents answered 6.2 million calls. This is 1 million fewer calls than last year.

In 2022‑23, the average call length was about 3 minutes longer than in 2021‑22, at approximately 19 minutes. Call length is affected by the nature and complexity of the calls received, such as calls related to potentially fraudulent activity. The fiscal year 2021‑22 had additional complex situations such as EI Emergency Response Benefit repayments. Call length is also affected by the proportion of new staff, who generally have longer call lengths than more experienced agents. In 2022‑23, the number of call centre agents who had at least a year of experience increased to 54.2% (from 44.4% in 2021‑22). It remains below the level in 2019‑20 when 68.9% had at least 1 year of experience.

Agent availability and caller wait times are two important performance indicators for call centres:

• Agent availability represents the percentage of call attempts^{Footnote 6} that are successfully placed in queue to wait to speak to an agent.
• Caller wait times represents the amount of time a caller is in queue waiting to speak to a call centre agent.

In 2022‑23 agent availability increased to 99.7% compared to 2021‑22 when agent availability was 98.9%. Also in 2022‑23, the average annual wait time to reach an agent was 18 minutes, which was 2 minutes shorter than in 2021‑22. For information on the rate of callers who chose to hang-up, rather than wait to speak to an agent, consult annex 4.3.2c. The changes and improvements to agent availability and caller wait times is directly related to the following initiatives:

• the 2019‑20 migration to the modernized call centre platform, the Hosted Contact Centre Solution (HCCS)
• upgrades to queue capacity
• maintaining a higher staffing level

HCCS allows all callers to access the call centre queue and wait to speak to an agent. Consequently, the increase in agent availability for the EI Call Centre results in longer wait times for callers but more answered calls.

Factors affecting Call Centre performance

The number of calls received throughout the year from clients waiting for EI claim decisions remained high in 2022‑23. Claim status enquiries are directly correlated with the volume of EI claims submitted or referred but not yet processed.

Increased fraudulent attempts to access EI benefits resulted in more calls from impacted clients. Calls from these clients also took longer to handle. Consult "Balancing integrity measures and the client experience" in section 4.5.3 for further details on the Department's response to fraudulent activities.

Calls resolved at first point of contact

Once a client connects to a call centre agent, most of their telephone enquiries are resolved at that initial point of contact. There may be cases where the call centre environment is not well suited to handle a request. If this is the case, the call centre agent sends the request to EI processing staff for appropriate follow-up actions.

The EI Call Centre tracks the volume of calls resolved at first point of contact. A call is considered resolved if the agent can address the client's enquiry during the telephone interaction.

During 2022‑23, the percentage of calls that were resolved by a call centre agent with no additional follow-up required increased by 4.4% to 87.8 % (consult annex 4.3.2d), continuing to stay above the 81.5% result for 2018‑19, the last full year before the COVID‑19 pandemic. This increase is due to a higher ratio of experienced call centre staff. Having more experienced staff means that call centre agents can make decisions in more cases, have better access to advisors during complex calls, and submit fewer callback requests. Furthermore, if a new (or reactivated) claim is already in the queue for processing and all the necessary information is in the file, call centres no longer request that clients be called back on status enquiries. These changes streamline the work and mean that call centre staff are better able to concentrate on resolving enquiries and facilitate the processing of more claims.

Call volume

Clients made 491,169 calls to the ECC in 2022‑23, which is up by just 434 calls over last year. This volume includes:

• calls answered by ECC agents
• calls for which the self-serve option resolved the clients' needs
• calls for which the caller chose to abandon while waiting to speak to an agent
• calls prevented from accessing an agent

In 2022‑23, 162,494 calls were resolved in the IVR system^{Footnote 7}, which was a decrease compared to 175,964 calls the previous fiscal year.

Calls answered

The ECC answered 303,274 calls in 2022‑23, which is 4,312 fewer calls than in 2021‑22. 99.7% of clients who opted to speak to an ECC agent were placed in queue in 2022‑23 compared to 100% last fiscal year.

The following are the top 5 reasons employers called the ECC to speak to an agent for assistance:

1. To enquire about record of employment (ROE) Web registration and login.
2. To order paper ROE forms (consult section 4.4.1).
3. To receive help about block specific information on ROEs.
4. To enquire about the status of an application for a Labour Market Impact Assessment through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
5. To receive help on how and when to issue an ROE.

In 2022‑23, record of employment on the web (ROE Web) remained the ECC's main service offering for the third consecutive year. The shift from requests for paper ROE forms to ROE Web observed in 2020‑21 has become a general trend.

The ECC has the same service level target as the EI Call Centre, which is to answer 80% of calls within 10 minutes. The ECC answered 79% (245,956) of calls within 10 minutes, which is a decrease of 16.2% compared to the previous fiscal year. The average length of time clients had to wait to speak to an agent increased to 5.4 minutes from 1.4 minutes in 2021‑22. The number of clients who chose to hang up after being placed in queue increased to 24,058 from 6,979 calls the previous year. One reason for this year-over-year increase in wait time relates to fluctuation in staffing during peak periods. Also, even though the top reasons people called the ECC remained consistent, there were some shifts in the volumes and types of these calls due to fewer short and straightforward calls (such as paper ROE orders and referrals) and more complex calls (such as ROE Web support).

In 2022‑23, the ECC improved its service delivery and ability to address client issues. Historically, ECC agents had to refer the callers to the EI Call Centre when a change was required to an ROE. Effective May 2, 2022, ECC agents were granted new system access allowing them to make some ROE corrections and to advise callers on how to amend an ROE in real time, while the caller is on the phone. This implementation supports the ongoing commitment to improve service delivery and aligns with the integrated channels service strategy.

Coping skills and crisis intervention training for call centre employees

Employees responding to telephone enquiries must sometimes deliver difficult information to clients. The Department offers all call centre employees the opportunity to attend coping skills and crisis intervention training.

All call centre employees receive 2 full days of training relating to coping skills as part of their initial training curriculum. The intent is to prepare employees by helping them develop active listening skills, call de-escalation techniques, strategies to help manage and control their personal reactions, as well as provide them with resources and tools to help support their own wellness.

Additionally, every call centre employee benefits from the availability of a one-time training relating to dealing with crisis in a call centre environment. To date, since its launch in early 2021, the overall participant satisfaction rate with this training is 92%.

The objectives of this 1-day session are to:

• help employees improve their ability to recognize an emotional or mental crisis in themselves, their co-workers, or their clients
• identify and apply coping mechanisms to help them through a crisis
• identify and apply tools to de-escalate issues present because of a crisis
• identify available resources

The Department ensures that ongoing support is available to employees as they progress in their call centre careers with the implementation of a 3-year training cycle. Two full-day training sessions are offered to employees each fiscal year. Training content reinforces the technical, interpersonal, and self-care skills that employees may need to foster a positive work environment and support their mental health and well-being.

Quality of call centre service delivery

Beyond supporting agents through training, Service Canada ensures the delivery of high-quality service to clients. The Department does this through its National Quality and Coaching Program (NQCP) for Call Centres.

Through the program, agent calls are monitored on an ongoing basis. Agents receive regular feedback to ensure that they provide accurate and complete information. Feedback may include coaching or training plans tailored to individual needs. Additional monitoring can also be completed as part of these plans to ensure continued performance improvements. To ensure consistency across the network, national calibration sessions are held to ensure that the same monitoring criteria is applied across all call centres.

The NQCP evaluates specific elements of calls to the call centres to ensure quality of service. These elements include professionalism, authentication, accuracy, and resolution of the client's needs. The elements are categorized as meeting, partially meeting, or not meeting quality expectations. Of note, when the program categorizes an element as partially meeting quality expectations, it denotes that the agent has adequately fulfilled the essential criteria for that element, but observations for minor areas of improvement that did not affect the client have been identified.

In 2022‑23, 84.75% of the reviewed calls to the EI Call Centre adequately fulfilled the essential criteria for calls. The specific element "Provides Accurate and Complete Information" is a key indicator of the result achieved for the client. For this element, 88.87% of reviewed EI calls adequately fulfilled the essential criteria.

For the ECC, 95.59% of calls monitored adequately fulfilled the essential criteria for calls, and 95.60% of reviewed ECC calls adequately fulfilled the essential criteria for the element "Provides Accurate and Complete Information."

In addition to the Department's formal quality program, clients may provide feedback about their service delivery experience, either directly to a call centre agent or to the Office of Client Satisfaction. Call centre agents have an ID number assigned to them. Clients can request this number during any call and reference it when providing feedback.

EI regular benefits pages

The EI regular benefits pages had 7.2 million visits in 2022‑23. There were 22% fewer visits than in 2021‑22. 38% of those visits went on to start applications using AppliWeb, similar to the 39%^{Footnote 8} in 2021‑22.

Maternity and parental benefits pages

When applying for maternity and parental benefits, claimants can access the estimator tool, which provides an interactive calculator that potential claimants can use to estimate how much they could receive.

In 2022‑23, the data shows that:

• 421,097 clients used the estimator tool, generating 879,045 estimates
• there were 2.7 million visits to the EI maternity and parental benefits information pages, a 10% increase over 2021‑22
• 15% of visitors to the maternity and parental benefits pages went on to start applications for benefits

EI sickness benefits pages

The EI sickness benefits pages had 2.4 million visits in 2022‑23, which is 7% fewer visits than in the previous year. About 26% of those visits went on to start applications.

AppliWeb

AppliWeb is the online tool EI claimants can use at any time to submit applications. Claimants can access AppliWeb from anywhere offering internet access, including in Service Canada Centres. Information shared by claimants is automatically transferred to their EI files and used to support claim processing automation.

Text description

In 2022–23, 98.1% of EI applications were submitted using AppliWeb.

For more on AppliWeb, consult annex 4.3.3a.

Electronic reporting

Every 2 weeks, claimants must complete EI reports. In their reports, claimants provide responses to a series of questions. Their answers determine if they are entitled to benefits.

Electronic reports can be completed using the phone or the internet reporting services. While both services are simple, secure, and always available, the internet reporting service offers additional electronic questionnaires. Instead of having to contact the call centre, claimants are prompted to provide supplemental information directly in their reports. The information is instantly transferred to their EI file and may result in faster payment processing for claimants.

In 2022‑23, the internet service remained the preferred electronic reporting method for EI at 84.7%. The remaining 15.3% of electronic reports were completed by phone, returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Text description for chart 2

Fiscal year	2018‑19	2019‑20	2020‑21	2021‑22	2022‑23
Percentage of phone reports	20.9	19.1	9.3	13.4	15.3
Percentage of internet reports	79.1	80.9	90.7	86.6	84.7

My Service Canada Account

My Service Canada Account (MSCA) is an online portal that can be accessed through Canada.ca. MSCA allows users to view and update their information for:

• EI
• Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
• CPP disability
• Old Age Security (OAS)

MSCA offers self-serve options and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from anywhere with internet access. The MSCA portal contributes to accessible, accurate, and timely services for Canadians. Also through the MSCA secure online portal, users can access a virtual assistant chatbot that helps them find information on many programs and services, including EI. In 2022‑23, a total of 327,127 chat sessions were conducted.

Using MSCA, EI claimants can:

• check the status of their applications and transactions, including payment information
• receive information from Service Canada about their claim
• get their T4E tax slip
• view previous EI claim information
• submit, view, or print supporting documents
• view and print their electronic records of employment

In 2022‑23, ESDC introduced features enabling claimants to view, download and print copies of uploaded documents, including EI decision letters. This year, a total of 69,267 EI decision letters were issued and 84% were viewed by claimants in MSCA.

The EI services on MSCA are promoted through Canada.ca, on AppliWeb, via the EI Call Centre, and in communications sent to claimants. For more information on MSCA, consult annexes 4.3.3b-c.

Online security

After its launch in 2020‑21, multi-factor authentication was made mandatory for all MSCA users in 2021‑22. This security measure remains in place in 2022‑23 and continues to help to protect user's personal information and prevent unauthorized access to MSCA.

Online literacy and accessibility

ESDC's top 150 web pages (which generate over 90% of all visits to ESDC pages) continue to meet the grade 6-8 literacy standard level.

In 2022‑23, ESDC continues to provide online standards using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 for Web accessibility, this includes:

• top-level AAA features for Accessibility Standards on the web
• continuous work with the blind and visually impaired community on improvements to the Job Bank mobile app
• voice-based services as an assistive technology
  • publishing voice-ready content onto Canada.ca
  • search engine optimization for voice content

Overall

Results from the Service Canada Client Experience Survey 2022‑23 found that 78% of EI clients were satisfied with their overall service experience. This is comparable to the 76% of EI clients who were satisfied in 2021‑22, but lower than the 84% of EI clients satisfied in 2020‑21.

Client groups

• Satisfaction was higher among the following client groups:
  • Seniors (aged 60 and over), 87% of whom were satisfied
  • EI clients residing in the Atlantic region, 90% of whom were satisfied
• Overall satisfaction for Indigenous clients (78%) and for e-vulnerable clients that rarely or never use online services (83%) was similar to the satisfaction rate for all EI clientele
• Satisfaction was lower among clients with disabilities (69%) and clients who experienced restrictions accessing services (71%)

Service accessibility

40% (2 out of 5) of the surveyed EI clients responded that they encountered a barrier to access services, compared to 43% in 2021‑22. The access barriers varied from not having access to internet (8%) or a device (8%) to not being able to visit a Service Canada office during business hours (21% of EI clients).

Drivers of satisfaction

Improving the following service attributes would have the greatest positive impact on overall satisfaction for EI clients in 2022‑23:

• Reasonable timeliness
  • 66% of EI clients found the timeliness for going through the client journey^{Footnote 12} reasonable, compared to 69% of EI clients that found the timeliness reasonable in 2021‑22
• Getting help on their application when needed
  • 63% of EI clients found it easy to get help on their claim application when they needed it, compared to 58% of EI clients in 2021‑22
• Receiving consistent information
  • 78% of EI clients agreed that they received consistent information throughout their client journey, compared to 76% of EI clients in 2021‑22

Service channel satisfaction

EI client satisfaction across various service channels changed as follows (consult annex 4.3.4a):

• Specialized call centre satisfaction increased to 71% in 2022‑23 compared to 63% in 2021‑22
• Online channel satisfaction stayed stable at 72% in 2022‑23 compared to 71% in 2021‑22
• In-person channel satisfaction stayed stable at 73% in 2022‑23, also 73% in 2021‑22

Service channel usage

• 36% of EI clients reported only using self-service tools (without assistance by phone or in person) to complete their client journey, a decrease compared to 43% in 2021‑22
• 25% of EI clients reported having used the in-person service channel at some point in the client journey, an increase compared to 18% who did in 2021‑22
• EI clients reported they were more likely to have used the in-person service channel at all stages of their client journey compared to last year and they were also less likely to have self-served at the application stage
• EI clients were also more likely to have used assisted self-service (self-service channels and telephone) at the awareness or application stages. Telephone usage remains the preferred channel at the follow-up stage

Electronic records of employment

Service Canada encourages employers to issue electronic records of employment (eROEs) through the ROE Web application as it offers many advantages, including:

• no need for employers to order, fill, and send paper ROEs
• no need for employees to provide their paper ROEs to Service Canada
• instant transfer of information to EI files
• reduction of errors from the manual input of paper ROEs

In 2022‑23, 42,939 employers registered to ROE Web, compared to 40,231 in 2021‑22.

For more on electronic ROEs, consult annexes 4.4.1b-c.

Artificial intelligence to review records of employment

When issuing ROEs for their employees, many employers include text comments to provide additional information. When screening the ROEs, EI systems stop the claim automation process if comments are detected. Staff must then review and process the comments manually.

In 2020, Service Canada started using an artificial intelligence (AI) model to process employer comments on ROEs. The AI model reduces the need for human intervention and supports claim processing automation. In 2022‑23, the AI model processed a percentage of comments similar to 2021‑22.

Claims inventory

Service Canada regularly receives new information regarding EI claims that have already been processed. Staff then review those claims. Due to increased claim volumes during the COVID‑19 pandemic, the Department focused on processing new claims to ensure claimants were receiving timely benefits. As a result, there is an important inventory of claims pending review.

Most of the claims pending review require fully trained and experienced staff. In 2021‑22, only a limited number of staff members had all the knowledge required to review claims.

In 2022‑23, the Department implemented a multi-year strategy to reduce the inventory of claims pending review to a sustainable level and to improve its capacity to meet service standards. This year, the following measures were put in place:

• hiring new resources and enhancing the skills of existing staff
• integrating its workforce to better manage workload peaks

Hiring and training

In 2022‑23, ESDC increased its workforce and continued to train new and experienced employees to maintain EI processing operations. The Department hired and trained 640 additional staff to meet the service standards moving forward.

Text description

Experience working in the EI program	As of March 31, 2021	As of March 31, 2022	As of March 31, 2023
0 - 12 months	28%	45%	50%
More than 12 months	72%	55%	50%
Total headcount	3,168	3,142	4,320

New staff must go through extensive training, and it takes up to 2 years before they are able to perform all the duties of an EI processing officer. The training program is comprised of multiple modules staggered over time. The format is designed to:

• handle large volumes of staff in training
• remain flexible in the face of legislative changes
• support managers’ plans for future hiring needs

As in previous years, Service Canada had a consistent turnover rate of EI processing staff, mostly due to experienced staff progressing in their career paths and moving into management and expertise positions. To lessen the impact of staff turnover, the Department dedicated additional training efforts to further develop the skills of its less experienced staff.

Results of this hiring and training initiative on EI processing operations will be reported upon in future iterations of this Report.

Integrated Workload and Workforce

In 2022–23, the Department implemented the Integrated Workload and Workforce (IWW) strategy. This strategy combines call centre and processing staff to better manage workload peaks.

Based on the EI call centre volume of calls during the week, these staff members are assigned where they are most needed: answering the phone in busy call centre periods or processing EI claims. Normally, call centre staff can only make simple decisions on EI claims. With this strategy, while on the phone with claimants, staff can also process cases that would otherwise be sent to the processing centre. By extending the services offered over the phone, the IWW strategy speeds up processing times for claimants.

This year, this initiative led to staff resolving 87% of calls with no outstanding issues or decisions.

Claimant error rate

This year, the claimant error rate was 2.7%. While a small number of the errors identified were based on information available to the Department when the claim was initially established, most claimant errors were identified through additional fact finding completed by the quality services team and occurred while the claimant was in receipt of benefits.

Errors of this nature include clients incorrectly reporting earnings while in receipt of benefits, and failing to declare the refusal of a job, quitting a job, or being dismissed from a job.

Service Canada remains actively engaged in exploring strategies to identify solutions that would allow for a reduction in the frequency of these issues.

Employer error rate

Errors attributed to employers accounted for 1.0% of the issues identified in the EI PAAR program this fiscal year. These errors are the result of erroneous information reported by the employer on the ROE such as the number of hours worked, insured earnings, or dates of employment. Such errors can result in the incorrect determination of the claim start date, or the inaccurate calculation of the entitlement weeks and/or the benefit rate.

To identify employer errors, PAAR reviewers validate all ROEs used to establish the claims of files included in the EI PAAR sample with the employers. Electronic ROEs reduce the occurrence of errors and represent approximately 95% of the ROEs validated through the PAAR process. The Department continues to analyze employer errors to understand why these mistakes occur and determine possible ways to avoid them, as well as their associated cost.

Service Canada error rate

Finally, errors attributed to Service Canada processing staff account for 1.8% of the errors identified in 2022‑23. While Service Canada errors vary annually, two consistently recurring errors have been identified in the EI PAAR:

• Failing to obtain additional information from the employer or the client when the information provided is missing or unclear
• Errors in data entry when manual inputs are required

The EI Quality Council is actively investigating these errors to identify areas for improvement and enhance accuracy and Service Canada persists in its endeavours to automate processing and improve policies, procedures, and tools, aiming to effectively mitigate the error rate.

Regular and Group Appeals

The SST manages and tracks EI appeals in 2 categories:

• Group appeals
  • A Group appeal includes more than 1 claimant appealing decisions made in the same or a similar matter
  • Group appeals are more complex and require more time to complete than regular appeals
• Regular appeals
  • An appeal filed at the Tribunal that is not a part of a group is considered a Regular appeal

Service standards and performance

Surveys indicate that overall satisfaction for Employment Insurance appellants remained at 96%, unchanged from 2021‑22.

The General Division has the following service standards:

• Decisions are made within 45 days from the date the appeal is filed with the SST, 80% of the time.
  • For 2022‑23, the SST met this goal 7.4% of the time (down from 68.8% in 2021‑22), with an average processing time of 113.1 days (up from 42.9 in 2021‑22). When including group appeals, the SST met this goal 7.2% of the time with an average processing time of 118.7 days
  • For more information, consult annex 4.6.2b
• Decisions are made within 15 days after a hearing, 80% of the time
  • For 2022‑23, the SST met this goal 61.2% of the time (down from 82.5%^{Footnote 17} in 2021‑22), averaging 17.7 days to issue a decision after the hearing compared with 9.0 days in 2021‑22. When including group appeals, the SST met this goal 59.4% of the time, averaging 18.6 days to issue a decision after the hearing
  • For more information, consult annex 4.6.2c-d

Across the SST, there were not enough members to deal with all of the appeals. Gaps in reappointments in 2021 and early 2022 meant that the SST started the fiscal year with a backlog of appeals at the General Division and the Appeal Division. A large increase in EI appeals meant that the backlog of appeals at the General Division, EI section and at the Appeal Division grew as the year went on.

It was difficult to meet service standards even for newer appeals because the SST had to assign the older ones first. In many cases, the service standard had passed before the SST member even received the file.

The SST will continue to increase its member capacity and continue streamlining its processes. With these efforts, the SST will reduce or eliminate its backlog of appeals in the 2023‑24 fiscal year. This will bring the SST closer to meeting its service standards.

Outcomes at the General Division, Employment Insurance section

An appeal to the General Division, EI section may be concluded by a written decision or a withdrawal. In 2022‑23, 23.8% of cases were allowed (19.4% excluding groups), 57.4% were dismissed (60.8% excluding groups), 5.0% were withdrawn (5.3% excluding groups) and the remaining were summarily dismissed or concluded for other reasons.

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2022‑23 General Division decision outcomes (groups included)

Outcome	% Share
Dismissed	57.4%
Concession	3.1%
Allowed	23.8%
Withdrawal	5.0%
Summary dismissals	8.8%
Late appeal denied	1.3%
Appeals concluded for other reasons	0.5%

2022‑23 General Division decision outcomes (groups excluded)

Outcome	% Share
Dismissed	60.8%
Concession	3.3%
Allowed	19.4%
Withdrawal	5.3%
Summary dismissals	9.4%
Late appeal denied	1.4%
Appeals concluded for other reasons	0.5%

• Note:
• Dismissed – decision not in the claimant’s favour
• Allowed – decision is in the claimant’s favour
• Withdrawals – claimant either withdraws or abandons the appeal
• Concession – Service Canada recommends that the Tribunal allows the appeal
• Summary dismissals – the Tribunal decides, based on the information in the file, that the appeal has no reasonable chance of success
• Late appeal denied – the Tribunal refuses the appeal filed beyond the 30-day deadline
• Appeals concluded for other reason(s) – administrative closures

Service standards and performance

The Appeal Division has the following service standards:

• Leave to appeal decisions are made within 45 days, 80% of the time
  • For 2022‑23, the SST met this goal approximately 64.3% of the time, which is down from 94.8% in 2021‑22, with an average processing time of 41.3 days (up from 23.1 in 2021‑22). Including group appeals, the SST met this goal 53.9% of the time with an average processing time of 46.9 days
  • For more information, consult annex 4.6.2f
• Final decisions are made within 150 days of the leave to appeal decision, 80% of the time
  • For 2022‑23, the SST met this goal 80.8% of the time (down from 93.9% in 2021‑22), with an average processing time of 105 days (up from 89 days in 2021‑22)
  • For more information, consult annex 4.6.2g

Alternative dispute resolution at the Appeal Division

The Appeal Division brings the parties together for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) when there is a reasonable expectation that the appeal can be resolved informally, without a hearing. For 2022‑23, 7% (or 55) of concluded Appeal Division cases went through the ADR process. Of these cases, 65% (or 36) were resolved by ADR.

Outcomes at the Appeal Division

An appeal to the Appeal Division may be concluded by either a written decision or a withdrawal. In 2022‑23, excluding group appeals, 27.8% of cases were allowed, 10.3% were dismissed, 52.1% were denied leave to appeal, 4.6% were withdrawn, and the remaining were concluded for other reasons. Including group appeals, 37.7% of cases were allowed, 8.9% were dismissed, 45.0% were denied leave to appeal, 3.9% were withdrawn, and the remaining were concluded for other reasons.

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2022‑23–Outcomes at the Appeal Division (including groups)

Outcome	% Share
Merit dismissed	8.9%
Leave to appeal denied	45.0%
Allowed	37.7%
Withdrawal	3.9%
Late appeal denied	1.9%
Appeals concluded for other reasons	2.5%

2022–23 Outcomes at the Appeal Division (groups excluded)

Outcome	% Share
Merit dismissed	10.3%
Leave to appeal denied	52.1%
Allowed	27.8%
Withdrawal	4.6%
Late appeal denied	2.2%
Appeals concluded for other reasons	2.9%

• Note:
• Merit dismissed– decision unfavourable to the appellant
• Leave to appeal denied – the Appeal Division denies permission to appeal
• Allowed – decision is in the appellant’s favour
• Withdrawals – appellant withdraws the appeal
• Late appeal denied – the Appeal Division refuses the appeal filed beyond the 30-day deadline
• Appeals concluded for other reason(s) – administrative closures