Government says it’s working on long-term plan to improve CRA services

OTTAWA — The federal government says it’s working on a long-term strategy to address problems at the Canada Revenue Agency as the agency’s 100-day plan to improve its services reaches its end point next week.

Wayne Long, secretary of state for the Canada Revenue Agency and financial institutions, told the House of Commons public accounts committee today the government is working on a three-to-five year plan for the agency and believes it’s on the right track.

Long said the 100-day plan, which was focused on addressing call centre delays, is a “Band-Aid” and he wants to keep working on improving services after it wraps up next week.

After placing calls to the CRA’s contact centres over four months this year, the office of Auditor General Karen Hogan reported in October that CRA call centre staff answered just 17 per cent of its individual tax questions accurately.

Melanie Serjak, an assistant commissioner at the CRA, told MPs after the release of Hogan’s report the agency is looking to roll out a more “senior and standardized” level of training and to deploy artificial intelligence to improve the accuracy of CRA agents’ advice to the public.

On Sept. 2, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne set a 100-day timeline for the CRA to address call centre delays, with a deadline of Dec. 11.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2025.