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The report quotes various respondents, with one explaining that they “waited one hour and thirty three minutes to speak with someone and one minute into the call he hung up on us.” Another wrote that they “couldn’t get through to even wait for an agent by phone for days. Then when I finally did, I waited 22 minutes and got dropped off the line. Called back again to ‘lines are all full’ message again.”

Long wait times are nothing new. A 2017 Office of the Auditor General report found that call-centre agents answered only about one-third of calls to the CRA’s call centre, with more than half the calls it received blocked because it could not handle the volume.

Another respondent kept notes on their interactions with the CRA, writing, “I sat on hold for more than 45 minutes and then got a message saying that all agents were busy and to call back another time. I got this message five times a day for a week.” Tax professionals also weighed in, with one writing, “The telephone wait times are ridiculous…. We can’t bill this time back to the client. Dealing with CRA is just a terrible experience.”

Nearly one third of respondents stated that a reduction in wait times would improve their experience with the CRA, with five to ten minutes being often suggested as the maximum acceptable wait time. In order to achieve this, respondents suggested the CRA hire more agents for the call centre, provide more information online to prevent the need to call, extend call centre hours beyond the normal work day, and upgrade the phone system to handle a larger volume of calls. It was also suggested that the CRA’s phone system provide updates while on hold about expected wait times.