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From: Canada Revenue Agency<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Ottawa, Ontario \u2013 December 11, 2025<\/p>\n The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has made significant strides in improving taxpayer services. Since launching its ambitious 100-Day Service Improvement Plan earlier this year, the agency has substantially reduced client wait times, enhanced service standards, and successfully integrated new technologies into its operations. These efforts demonstrate a strong commitment to user-friendly services.<\/p>\n Canadians faced overwhelming service pressures, prompting the introduction of the 100-Day Service plan. This initiative focused on four crucial areas: enhancing call response, expanding digital self-service tools, addressing core service issues, and accelerating modernization efforts. The goal was to meet and exceed Canadians’ expectations.<\/p>\n As the 100-day period concludes, the CRA proudly reports considerable progress across all its priority areas. Call wait times have dramatically decreased, and digital services are now more accessible, offering Canadians easier navigation through the tax system. This renewed focus provides more efficient support to individuals and businesses.<\/p>\n Moving forward, the CRA remains dedicated to maintaining and improving this level of service, particularly as the upcoming tax-filing season approaches. Sustaining these improvements is vital for rebuilding trust and strengthening the overall service experience for all Canadians. The agency will leverage its current momentum and accomplishments to drive ongoing efficiencies into the new year and beyond.<\/p>\n The CRA significantly improved access to its phone agents. The number of unique calls answered more than doubled, soaring from 35% to over 70%, with peak responsiveness reaching 92%. This impressive gain resulted from extending term contracts and rehiring approximately 1,250 employees dedicated to reducing wait times.<\/p>\n Additionally, the CRA implemented a scheduled callback feature for issues related to account access. This new option has already supported over 59,000 Canadians, ensuring they receive assistance without prolonged waits.<\/p>\n Digital services are now easier and more effective for taxpayers. Individuals who lose or forget their CRA sign-in information can now swiftly regain access to their accounts online, eliminating the need for a phone call. This streamlines a common point of frustration for many users.<\/p>\n A new “Manage Balance” feature empowers Canadians to make payments or set up payment arrangements directly within their CRA Account. Users can complete these tasks independently, without needing to speak with an agent. Furthermore, the GenAI chatbot beta now handles a broader spectrum of questions, including complex business inquiries about tax credits and compliance.<\/p>\n The document verification service has also made CRA account registration faster and more secure. In October 2025, 88% of new users gained immediate account access, effectively mitigating about 300,000 potential phone calls annually. For clearer information, updates to Canada.ca\/Taxes<\/a> help users easily find details on benefits, credits, account creation, and processing times. The CRA also offers valuable resources through its partner, Industry Canada<\/a>, providing broader economic information.<\/p>\n The CRA implemented a targeted plan to reduce wait times for specific, high-demand services. This includes tax adjustments, Disability Tax Credit (DTC) applications, and Canada Child Benefit claims. By reallocating service representatives to these critical areas, the agency processed over 23,000 additional DTC cases, all while maintaining its 70% call-answer target.<\/p>\n New system enhancements will further improve efficiency. These updates will enable the CRA to automatically process approximately 115,000 more tax adjustment requests each year, significantly reducing manual effort and processing delays. For those seeking comprehensive details, Read our comprehensive guide to CRA services<\/a>.<\/p>\n The agency is also accelerating its long-term modernization strategy. Phone services have been updated to direct payment-related questions straight to specialized agents. This ensures Canadians receive accurate answers on their first call, avoiding around 95,000 unnecessary transfers annually.<\/p>\n Significant work is underway to develop a new contact platform. This modern system aims to provide Canadians with a consistent and improved service experience by summer 2026. These investments reflect the CRA’s commitment to continuous improvement.<\/p>\n As the CRA prepares for the upcoming tax season, it builds on its recent successes to enhance the clarity, accuracy, and accessibility of its services. In the coming months, the agency will continue to strengthen security measures, streamline processes to further reduce wait times, and expand its use of digital tools. This includes leveraging artificial intelligence and automation to deliver faster, more responsive service to Canadians.<\/p>\n Tax season typically brings a significant surge in call volumes; last year, the CRA handled over 32 million calls, with daily peaks nearing 300,000 during the filing period. To manage this anticipated increase, the CRA is extending term contracts and hiring additional contact centre staff. Enhanced training for these new hires focuses on ensuring both accuracy and completeness in service delivery.<\/p>\n The CRA also plans to collaborate closely with tax preparers and professional associations ahead of filing season. This partnership aims to explore new ways of addressing their service needs, focusing on reducing the necessity for calls or improving access to the appropriate agent when contact is required.<\/p>\n These priorities directly reflect feedback from Canadians and various stakeholders. They consistently highlight the need for greater transparency, quicker processing times, and improved access to essential services. The CRA remains committed to earning and maintaining public trust by continuously strengthening its services and providing robust support throughout the tax season.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 100-Day Service Improvement Plan was designed to address service pressures affecting Canadians, and the progress achieved to date demonstrates that the approach is working. The CRA has increased its capacity to answer calls, enhanced key digital tools, and begun modernizing the systems that support Canadians every day. This is a long-term effort, and the CRA remains committed to providing transparent updates as it continues to strengthen its services.\u201d<\/p>\n The Honourable Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cCanadians deserve timely, accurate, and reliable service from the CRA. That\u2019s why, earlier this fall, Canada\u2019s new government tasked the CRA to implement a 100-day service improvement plan to reduce service delays, cut wait times, and improve accessibility. The progress made by the Agency during the past 100 days is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the world-class public servants at the CRA. As we mark the end of the 100-day service improvement plan, my focus as Secretary of State for the Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions, is maintaining the momentum of modernization and service improvement for Canadians in the weeks and months to come.\u201d<\/p>\n The Honourable Wayne Long, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)<\/strong><\/p>\n The CRA 100-Day Service Plan significantly improved call responsiveness, expanded digital self-service tools, addressed root causes of service issues like tax adjustments and Disability Tax Credit applications, and accelerated long-term modernization efforts. It resulted in doubled call answer rates and faster online account access.<\/p>\n The CRA improved services by rehiring staff to reduce call wait times, implementing scheduled callbacks, and enhancing digital tools. These tools include easier online account access, a “Manage Balance” feature for payments, and an advanced GenAI chatbot to answer complex business questions. These changes offer faster CRA account access and support.<\/p>\n For upcoming tax season readiness, the CRA is extending staff contracts, hiring additional contact centre agents, and providing enhanced training. They are also introducing new services like an updated Progress tracker, a new portal for registered plan administrators, and mandatory backup multi-factor authentication to ensure smoother interactions and reduce wait times.<\/p>\n To reduce CRA call wait times, the agency doubled its unique call answer rate by extending term contracts and rehiring 1,250 employees. They also introduced scheduled callbacks for CRA account access issues and updated phone services to direct payment-related questions to specialists, avoiding unnecessary transfers.<\/p>\n Yes, you can experience faster CRA account access. The CRA now allows individuals who lose or forget sign-in information to quickly regain access online. Additionally, the document verification service enables 88% of new users to gain immediate access, streamlining the registration process and improving overall accessibility.<\/p>\n John Fragos Luca Bonifacio-Proietto Media Relations For the complete list of improvements and to learn more about the CRA’s ongoing commitment to service excellence, visit the 100-Day Service Improvement Plan webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n Search for related information by keyword: Taxes<\/a> | Canada Revenue Agency<\/a> | Canada<\/a> | general public<\/a> | news releases<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since launching the 100-day Service Improvement Plan earlier this year, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has made considerable and marked progress in reducing client wait times, improving service standards, and scaling up new technologies into its processes\u2014all while improving user-friendly services. … <\/i>Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taxation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applytocanada.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Key Achievements: Unpacking the CRA 100-Day Service Plan Benefits<\/h2>\n
Reducing CRA Call Wait Times and Improving Accessibility<\/h3>\n
Faster CRA Account Access and Enhanced Digital Tools<\/h3>\n
Addressing Core Service Issues for Better Support<\/h3>\n
Accelerating Long-Term Modernization Efforts<\/h3>\n
Preparing for Tax Season: Sustaining Service Excellence and Tax Season Readiness CRA<\/h2>\n
New Services for a Smoother Tax Season Experience<\/h3>\n
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Quotes on CRA’s Service Transformation<\/h2>\n
Quick Facts on CRA Service Improvements<\/h2>\n
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Frequently Asked Questions About CRA Service Improvements<\/h2>\n
What benefits came from the CRA 100-day service plan?<\/h3>\n
How did the CRA improve services for individuals and businesses?<\/h3>\n
How is the CRA preparing for the upcoming tax season?<\/h3>\n
What measures help reduce CRA call wait times?<\/h3>\n
Can I access my CRA account more quickly now?<\/h3>\n
Associated Links<\/h2>\n
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Contacts<\/h2>\n
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Finance and National Revenue
john.fragos@fin.gc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n
Press Secretary
Office of the Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
luca.bonifacio-proietto@fin.gc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n
Canada Revenue Agency
613-948-8366
cra-arc.media@cra-arc.gc.ca<\/a><\/p>\nStay Connected<\/h2>\n
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