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The CRA said in a statement Friday it’s taking “immediate and decisive” actions to improve services by Dec. 11, including increasing the number of staff working in its call centres.

“We understand that many Canadians have recently faced difficulties in accessing timely assistance from the CRA, whether you are trying to call the CRA or waiting for a response to a specific request,” the CRA said.

The agency said it’s answering millions of calls but demand across the country exceeds its capacity.

The CRA said it began increasing the number of staff at its call centres on Sept. 8 and expects to continue increasing the number of agents “in the coming weeks.”

Marc Brière, national president of the Union of Taxation Employees, said he’s been told at least 400 staff have been hired.

As a result of hiring, the CRA said the percentage of Canadian callers it has answered has already increased from 37 per cent in the period of June 23 to July 4 to 57 per cent in the period of Sept. 1 to Sept. 5. 

The CRA said its goal is to reach 70 per cent by mid-October.

The agency is also extending the hours its online chat service is available and increasing the number of questions its artificial intelligence chatbot can answer.

It’s also implementing a plan to reduce the backlog of tax adjustments and piloting a new call-scheduling system, something recommended by the taxpayers’ ombudsperson.

Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson François Boileau, who is responsible for reviewing service-related complaints about the CRA, recently told The Canadian Press his office is “swamped.”

His office’s last annual report, released in June, found roughly 24 per cent of complaints were related to issues with call centres.

The government’s push to improve call centre services comes after Champagne sent letters to his fellow ministers in July asking most to find savings of 15 per cent over three years in their departments’ day-to-day spending.

The Union of Taxation Employees, which has launched an online campaign denouncing cuts at the CRA, has said almost 10,000 jobs have been lost at the agency since May 2024, including about 3,300 call centre workers. 

After the union launched its campaign, the CRA confirmed last month it offered extensions to 850 call centre employees whose contracts were set to expire.

Brière said that around the same time the CRA let go of 250 contract workers at its tax processing centres.

Brière said the union appreciates that the agency is taking actions to improve services and rehire people. But he warns services will only get worse without more staff, despite the CRA’s efforts. 

“We’re still short,” he said. “If they think that the AI will compensate the missing workers, they are wrong. They need more workers, there’s no question about it.”

The size of the CRA workforce grew during the pandemic and over the last few years, from just under 44,000 in 2019 to around 59,000 in 2024. As of 2025, employee numbers are down to around 52,500.

A CRA spokesperson told The Canadian Press in late August that the agency has been forced to “re-examine the size of its workforce” in response to the government’s savings initiative and the end of temporary programs like those tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025. 

— With files from Craig Lord