The Taxpayers' Ombudsperson, Mr. François Boileau, made a service improvement request to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in March 2024, asking it to make changes to prevent an issue blocking callers from reaching the CRA during its contact centres' regular hours of service.
The CRA's contact centres for its individual and business tax enquiries lines were open Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., local time. However, the Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson (OTO) found that the CRA's telephone system was preventing callers from reaching an agent if the contact centre was not open in the time zone associated with the caller's phone number.
For example, if someone had moved from Vancouver, BC, to St. John's, NL, but had kept their Vancouver phone number, they would not have been able to reach a CRA contact centre if they called from St. John's at 10:30 a.m. The CRA's telephone system would have told the caller that the contact centre was not open because it would be 6:00 a.m. in Vancouver.
Although this issue had the potential to affect a large segment of the population, it had a particular impact on Northern residents. The CRA has dedicated phone lines so these callers can speak to an agent equipped to answer questions about tax affairs specific to Northern residents. However, callers cannot reach these lines if they do not have a phone number with an 867 area code.
To improve the service the CRA provides to Canadians, the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson requested that the CRA:
- communicate to Canadians how their area code could prevent them from reaching the CRA;
- communicate to Canadians how they can reach the contact centre if the CRA is blocking their number because of their area code;
- allow all territorial residents to call the dedicated telephone service for Northern residents, regardless of their telephone number; and
- accept calls to its contact centre regardless of the caller's telephone number, as long as an agent is available.
Since the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson made this request, the CRA has improved the service by extending the hours for its individual and business tax enquiries lines and the dedicated telephone lines for the residents of the Territories to provide taxpayers with equal access during its hours of service, regardless of the caller's area code, as long as an agent is available. The enquiries contact centres are now open Monday to Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern time.
However, the CRA has not made the same changes to its Northern residents lines, stating that it does not want to make it possible for the general public to access these lines. Instead, it now informs callers who do not have an 867 area code about why their call is being restricted. The CRA also includes this information on its web page for this service. There is not currently a way for someone in the North to call these lines without a phone number with an 867 area code.
Background information
The Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson works independently from the CRA. Canadians can submit complaints to the Office if they feel they are not receiving the appropriate service from the CRA. Our main objective is to improve the service the CRA provides to taxpayers and benefit recipients by reviewing individual service complaints and service issues that affect more than one person or a segment of the population.
The Taxpayers' Ombudsperson assists, advises and informs the Minister of National Revenue about matters relating to services provided by the CRA. The Ombudsperson ensures, in particular, that the CRA respects eight of the service rights outlined in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
