A teacher at heart

Jennifer joined the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a co-op student 23 years ago and has worked in a variety of different roles over the years. Nine years ago she got a call that changed her life.

“They asked me if I wanted to be part of the new liaison officer program, which would provide support to small businesses,” she says. “I’ve been with the program ever since. I love it – it meshes perfectly with my personality. I never want to leave!”

The Liaison Officer (LO) service supports new small businesses and self-employed individuals by helping them to accurately file their returns for income tax, as well as GST/HST. They also help business owners avoid and correct the most common errors. Through this program, officers provide tools, information, and support to help businesses manage their tax matters correctly from the start.

“When I was a kid I wanted to be a teacher” she laughs. “I really love to pass my knowledge onto others. I love to meet new people, to figure out how they learn so I can break things down for them. With new clients, I start with where they’re coming from and ask a few questions. They might have 3 things they’re wondering about and I’m thinking – ‘ok, really you’ve got 8 things going on here… by starting with the basics we piece it all together.”

With the program from the very beginning, Jennifer meets all kinds of people who need varying degrees of help. From established small business owners to newcomers to Canada, Jennifer learned quickly that people “don’t know what they don’t know yet. I get them to tell me everything they can – I’ve had people who don’t know what a debit and credit is,” she exclaims. “That’s when I go right back to Accounting 101. At the end of they day, the more knowledge that I can give to someone, that they actually understand, the better I feel.”

As a team leader for the liaison officer team in the Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Jennifer’s teaching skills don’t stop with the small businesses that she serves. She’s also responsible for training new employees that join the liaison officer program.

“What I really try to get across is that every meeting is different,” says Jennifer. “My advice is always to start with real life. Think about a landscaper – is that person likely to take people out for lunch and have meal expenses? Does that person have a home office or outside workspace? You have to think about how their situation relates to real life and that’s a basis where you can start helping them.

“I’ve also learned that sharing my own stories with my team members can help them with their own clients,” she says. ““For example I had one person double claiming something but they had no idea they were doing it - I shared how that could happen with my team and how other clients might make the same mistake. Later on, I heard that they were all passing that advice to different clients because it was such so helpful. So we’re all learning from each other!”

Ever since Jennifer received that call nine years ago to join the liaison officer program she has never looked back. “This is the best job for me, this is how my brain works,” she says. “I get to work for the Government of Canada and make people’s lives easier. That’s the goal, that’s the teaching aspect.”