TLDR: The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is undertaking a significant initiative to improve its customer services by hiring more call centre staff and expanding its use of artificial intelligence. This move is part of a 100-day plan mandated by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to address persistent call centre delays and enhance taxpayer support.
OTTAWA – The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced on September 19, 2025, a comprehensive 100-day plan aimed at drastically improving its customer service operations. This strategic overhaul includes a substantial increase in call centre staffing and a broader integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The initiative comes in response to a directive from Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who earlier this month set a firm deadline for the CRA to resolve long-standing issues with call centre delays.
Immediate and decisive actions are being taken to meet the December 11 deadline. The CRA has already begun increasing the number of agents in its call centres, with efforts commencing on September 8 and expected to continue in the coming weeks. Marc Brière, national president of the Union of Taxation Employees, confirmed that at least 400 new staff have been hired. These immediate measures have shown promising early results, with the percentage of Canadian callers answered rising from 37 percent between June 23 and July 4, to 57 percent in the period of September 1 to September 5. The agency’s ambitious target is to achieve a 70 percent answer rate by mid-October.
Beyond human resources, the CRA is significantly expanding its technological capabilities. The online chat service will see extended operating hours, and the artificial intelligence chatbot is being enhanced to answer a wider array of taxpayer questions. Additionally, the agency is implementing a plan to reduce the backlog of tax adjustments and is piloting a new call-scheduling system, a recommendation previously put forth by the taxpayers’ ombudsperson.
The need for these improvements has been highlighted by the increasing demand for CRA services, which has consistently exceeded the agency’s capacity. Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson François Boileau recently noted that his office, responsible for reviewing service-related complaints, is “swamped.” His office’s annual report in June indicated that approximately 24 percent of complaints were related to service issues.
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While the Union of Taxation Employees appreciates the agency’s efforts to rehire and improve services, Marc Brière cautioned that more staff are still needed. “We’re still short,” Brière stated, adding, “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 CRA’s workforce saw fluctuations, growing from just under 44,000 in 2019 to around 59,000 in 2024, but has since decreased to approximately 52,500 in 2025. The union has previously claimed that nearly 10,000 jobs have been lost since May 2024, including about 3,300 call centre workers, a figure that prompted the CRA to extend contracts for 850 call centre employees until March 31, 2026.
