A run-in with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) can be taxing in the best circumstances, but the real test of a Canadian’s patience could come during the wait to speak with an agent on the phone.
As of the end of July, the CRA’s call centres were hitting their target of getting to a caller within 15 minutes or less only 31 per cent of the time, the agency told CTVNews.ca. This is compared to a service standard goal of 65 per cent of calls.
I had to deal with the CRA on behalf of both Mom and Kathy’s estate. This involved a number of calls for each, a wait of half an hour would have been welcome.
I routinely spent up to 3 hours in “line” and once had the call disconnected when I was finally connected to a live agent.
My experience dealing with CRA staff has been good, even excellent with rare exception.
