Mr. Speaker, following the interventions by the member for Swift Current—Grasslands—Kindersley, I am pleased to have the opportunity this evening to speak about the CRA's actions in response to the Auditor General's audit of its contact centres.
First and foremost, let me say that the government accepts the findings of the Auditor General and thanks her for her invaluable audit published on October 21, 2025. It is my understanding that the report is currently being studied at the PACP committee. As a matter of fact, both the Minister of Finance and the Secretary of State for the CRA and Financial Institutions have pre-emptively volunteered to appear at committee to discuss the report and the important steps that our government has already taken to improve service delivery at the CRA.
With nearly 200 million service transactions annually, service delivery is central to the agency's mandate. While CRA agents do exemplary work, it has become increasingly clear that service delivery is an issue facing many Canadians in their dealings with the agency.
That is why the Minister of Finance and National Revenue and the Secretary of State for the CRA and Financial Institutions tasked the CRA with a 100-day plan to examine existing gaps and flaws and develop common-sense solutions to improve service delivery. This process began on September 2 and will run until December 11. The plan encompasses improvements in both the short and long term, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to share with the House the measures currently under way at the agency, as well as the results achieved to date under the 100-day plan.
First, the CRA has reallocated the number of call centre and contact centre representatives available, and as a result, the percentage of calls answered has exceeded the plan's target of 70%.
Second, the agency is enhancing its self-service digital options, including optimizing its website, adding features to the My Account function and expanding Al-based chat support.
Additionally, live chat support through My Account is now available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. eastern standard time. Users with locked accounts can now regain access by re-registering, thus eliminating the need to call. Taxpayers with debts of $1,000 or more can now set up payment arrangements directly through My Account, bypassing the need to talk to a collections officer. The GenAI chatbot on Canada.ca will soon be able to answer a broader range of questions by drawing from a vastly larger pool of CRA resources.
When combined, these measures are streamlining operations and making the CRA more nimble and efficient in responding to Canadians.
The CRA is also improving the accuracy of responses provided by contact centres. During the last fiscal year, the agency evaluated over 100,000 calls as part of the quality assurance program. Of these, 80% were related to specific taxpayer files. According to our results, these calls achieved an accuracy rate of 94%.
We do, however, agree with the Auditor General's findings, and the agency fully acknowledges, that the remaining 20% of calls, which are related to general inquiries, still require improvement. To respond to audit findings, the CRA's quality assurance program is refocusing its evaluation criteria to emphasize the accuracy and completeness of information shared with callers. Evaluations will more effectively inform improvements, including updated training materials, revised procedures and individualized coaching.
Canadians trust the CRA. They trust it to handle sensitive personal and financial information and to provide accurate and timely advice. We are reinforcing that trust through our 100-day plan.