A scathing Auditor General report exposes significant failures in the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) contact centres, highlighting abysmal service levels and inaccurate taxpayer guidance amid a workforce of approximately 59,000 employees.
The 2025 performance audit found that only 17% of agents’ responses to individual tax queries were accurate and complete, with business taxes (54%) and benefits (56%) faring slightly better.
The CRA’s AI chatbot, Charlie, delivered correct information in just 2 of 6 test cases, failing on most individual tax scenarios. Call wait times have worsened, with only 18% of calls answered within the CRA’s 15-minute target in 2024-25, averaging 31 minutes—nearly double prior years’ waits due to a 40% cut in contact centre agents (from 5,800 to 3,500) despite rising call volumes (32 million annually).
Two-thirds of calls go unanswered, and complaints surged 145% since 2021-22.
Auditor General Karen Hogan criticized the CRA’s focus on agent breaks over accuracy and inadequate AI oversight. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne promised a 100-day action plan, with recent rehiring boosting answer rates to 77%.