Update on contact centres for the 2026 tax-filing season: Ensuring Canadians receive the support they need

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is committed to serve Canadians by providing accurate, reliable, and timely services. We believe in the importance of delivering clear, responsive, and effective support when Canadians reach out for assistance, and we continue to take meaningful steps to improve the service experience.

Focused on answering calls and enhancing accuracy

The CRA receives between 25 and 32 million calls annually, with approximately 16 to 17 million calls from unique callers. Unfortunately, high demand has led many people to call repeatedly. To address this issue, the CRA increased the contact centre's capacity in the fall of 2025 by adding approximately 1,250 service representatives. As a result, more callers can now speak with a service representative, and the number of unique callers served has more than doubled under the 100-Day Service Improvement Plan, increasing from 35% to over 70%, with the current rate over 80%.

Launched in October 2024, the National Quality Monitoring Program (NQMP) reviews over 100,000 call recordings annually to evaluate contact centre performance. Evaluations are conducted using a standardized checklist that prioritizes accuracy, professionalism, adherence to procedures, and overall service quality. To ensure fairness and consistency:

• Trained quality evaluators independently review complete call recordings.
• Service representatives are evaluated by multiple evaluators, and team leaders do not assess their own teams.
• Timely and written feedback highlights strengths and areas for improvement in a collaborative, learning-focused manner.

The results of these evaluations inform coaching, training, and the continuous development of service representatives, reinforcing the CRA’s commitment to service excellence.

This fiscal year, our contact centre service representatives provided accurate information 92% of the time and delivered quality, professional, and efficient service 96% of the time. These results reflect our commitment to serving Canadians effectively, and they align with the findings of the Auditor General, which confirmed a high degree of accuracy for personal account calls.

Providing high-quality service is essential to effectively address callers’ needs. To ensure quality service, agents must provide complete and accurate responses that directly address the inquiry, offer relevant information to guide decisions, and stay within their training and responsibilities. Actions taken on a taxpayer's account should aim to fully resolve the issue on the first call, adhering to established procedures and ensuring accuracy throughout.

Training and continuous improvement for better service

The CRA continues to enhance its training and coaching programs to support service representatives in providing accurate, consistent, and tailored responses to Canadians. Our training approach emphasizes progressive learning, equipping new hires with the skills they need to succeed:

• Service representatives begin their training by observing live calls handled by experienced colleagues. They gradually progress from handling simple inquiries under supervision to managing more complex tax topics with confidence.
• Training materials are aligned with the reference tools used on the job, fostering strong research skills. These tools are routinely updated to reflect the latest policies and procedures, ensuring service representatives have access to the most current information.
• Ongoing support is provided through a dedicated support line staffed by senior service representatives. Refresher sessions are also offered to revisit complex topics and refine skills.

The CRA applies a structured, data-driven quality framework to assess contact centre performance, ensuring that all Canadians receive clear, correct, and consistent information.

New telephone platform

Through a comprehensive procurement process led by Shared Services Canada (SSC), a contract was awarded on July 4, 2025, to Bell Canada to provide cloud-based contact centre services. The new contract will be for 5 years (with an additional 5-year option). The new platform will enhance usability for service representatives and simplify the client experience. It will improve responsiveness to taxpayer enquiries, enable seamless navigation across service channels, and empower service representatives to deliver outstanding results. The CRA has fast-tracked the transition to this platform to enhance service delivery for Canadians.

The CRA is also exploring how Artificial Intelligence (AI) could support service representatives in streamlining tasks and improving efficiency. While maintaining high standards for security, quality, and accuracy, AI tools have the potential to enhance processes and enable service representatives to focus on delivering exceptional service to Canadians.

Goal for the T1 filing season

As we prepare for the upcoming T1 filing season, the CRA is focused on improving access to our telephone enquiry services for individuals, benefits recipients, and businesses. Our goal is to respond to an average of 70% of unique callers. We are working diligently to meet this target by addressing potential call volumes and wait times through proactive measures. These include increasing our workforce, promoting the use of self-service tools, and optimizing call management strategies to better serve Canadians during peak periods. Our priority is to ensure that Canadians receive timely, accurate, and efficient assistance when they need it most.

Strengthening our workforce to meet demand

To better serve Canadians during peak periods, such as the busy tax filing season, the CRA is temporarily increasing its workforce even further by approximately 1,700 service representatives. This includes rehiring experienced former employees and hiring new service representatives to meet the needs of taxpayers. While these temporary measures are in place, we continue to evaluate our staffing levels to balance service quality and fiscal responsibility.

Promoting digital tools for faster access

To improve service speed and efficiency, the CRA encourages Canadians to use its digital tools, such as the CRA account, the 24/7 GenAI chatbot beta, and online chat services. The "Skip the Line – Get faster help from the CRA" initiative promotes these secure, self-serve tools, enabling Canadians to find reliable answers in minutes. By adopting these digital solutions, Canadians can resolve simpler enquiries quickly, freeing up phone lines for more complex cases.

Dedicated to serving Canadians better

The CRA deeply values the professionalism, skill, and empathy of its contact centre service representatives, who assist millions of Canadians each year, often during challenging times.

Canadians can be confident that when they contact the CRA, they are receiving accurate information delivered by knowledgeable and well-trained service representatives. Through continuous improvement, proactive training, and increased staffing, the CRA is working diligently to ensure that all Canadians receive the quality of service they expect and deserve.