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OTTAWA — The Canada Revenue Agency blocked more than half of the calls it received from Canadian taxpayers in order to obscure the performance results of its customer services division, and also accidentally provided incorrect information to a high number of callers, according to the auditor general.

CRA call centres blocked 54 per cent of the 53.5 million calls it received from taxpayers between March 2016 and March 2017, according to a report released by the Auditor General of Canada Tuesday. The agency’s call centres are responsible for taking questions from Canadian taxpayers and businesses about their taxes, credits and benefits.

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“The Agency blocked calls so that it could meet its service standard for agent wait times,” the report said, noting that its mandates is to answer calls within two minutes or less 75 to 80 per cent of the time.

“By blocking and redirecting calls, the Agency was able to report that it had met its targets for telephone lines,” the report said. “However, when blocked calls are factored in, the Agency’s overall success rate was 36 per cent.”