Say Goodbye to Hold Music: How the CRA is Boosting Agent Capacity (Part 2/5)

The most visible issue for many Canadians has been the inability to reach a live agent. The CRA has been fielding millions of calls, and demand has repeatedly exceeded capacity, forcing calls to be redirected and causing repeat calls.

To combat this, the CRA is focusing heavily on human resources:

• Staff Augmentation: The agency has been aggressively extending term contracts and rehiring personnel in its contact centres. This rapid influx of agents is designed to immediately better meet demand and reduce the overall wait experience.

• A Clear Goal: The CRA has set a clear, measurable target: to achieve a 70% answer rate for Canadian callers by mid-October (up from 57% in early September). By committing to this metric and actively reporting progress, the CRA is attempting to build back confidence in their telephone service.

While the agency continues to redirect calls to automated services when average wait times exceed 30 minutes (to serve as many callers as fairly as possible), the goal is to stabilize capacity so that redirection becomes less frequent, and more Canadians can connect with a representative when a digital solution is not suitable.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/100-day-service-improvement-plan.html