CRA extending hours after phone system issue

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has extended its call centre hours following revelations that Canadians in different time zones were having issues reaching agents.

The Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson found that the CRA’s phone system was preventing callers from connecting with an agent if the contact centre was not open in the time zone associated with their phone number, regardless of where the caller currently resides.

“For example, if someone had moved from Vancouver, B.C., to St. John’s, N.L., but had kept their Vancouver phone number, they would not have been able to reach a CRA contact centre if they called from St. John’s at 10:30 a.m.,” a news release from the office reads. “The CRA’s telephone system would have told the caller that the contact centre was not open because it would be 6 a.m. in Vancouver.”

Previously, contact centres were open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time. Now, the hours are all based on eastern time, with lines open Monday to Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Though this issue had the “potential to affect a large segment of the population,” the office says it was particularly impacting Canadians living in the North. The CRA says phone lines dedicated to residents of the territories, which can only be reached with an 867 area code, now have extended hours, as well.

“This change is a win for taxpayers,” Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson François Boileau said in the news release, adding that his office will keep a close eye on the situation to see if there are more opportunities for improvement. “Not everyone changes their phone number after they move, and this should not limit their access to CRA services. Now taxpayers across Canada have equal access.”