Public Accounts

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee met to study six reports released that morning by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, covering the Canada Revenue Agency’s contact centres, Canadian Armed Forces recruitment and housing, federal cybersecurity, early learning and child care, and Indigenous services. Auditor General Karen Hogan appeared alongside principals Glenn Wheeler and Gabriel Lombardi.

Hogan testified that the Canada Revenue Agency’s contact centres are failing Canadians, with average wait times of 31 minutes—double the 15-minute service standard—and agents providing accurate answers to general tax questions only 17% of the time. She noted that agent performance evaluations place less than 10% weight on accuracy, prioritizing adherence to schedules instead, and that the agency’s telephony contract, managed by Shared Services Canada, had so many red flags that she is launching a separate audit on its management. Hogan recommended improving agent tools, triaging calls about My Account separately, and shifting the evaluation culture to emphasize accuracy.

On Canadian Armed Forces recruitment, Hogan reported that between 2022 and 2025 the forces fell short of their target by about 4,700 recruits, with only one in 13 applicants starting basic training. She said the forces do not know why more than half of applicants abandon the process, and that the recruitment timeline of roughly 300 days is double the standard, likely causing applicants to find other jobs. She recommended collecting data on why applicants drop out and improving automation of the recruitment system.

Regarding military housing, Hogan found that National Defence does not have enough living spaces in the right locations, with some buildings lacking safe drinking water and working toilets, and that the Canadian Forces Housing Agency has not planned enough new units to fill existing gaps. She noted that the 20-year, $2.2-billion housing plan relies on outdated information and should be updated to reflect recruitment goals. She disagreed with any suggestion that a new appointment to a procurement agency would address housing, clarifying that the Housing Agency handles unit construction.

On cybersecurity, Hogan testified that 58% of federal organizations are not required to use the cybersecurity defence services offered by Shared Services Canada and the Communications Security Establishment, creating a fragmented landscape that undermines protection. She said coordination among key agencies was too slow during active cyber-attacks, delaying responses, and recommended that all federal organizations adopt the defence sensors to bolster overall security. She noted that her own office, despite its independence, uses those sensors.

On early learning and child care, Hogan stated that federal funding has reduced parent fees to an average of about $16.50 a day and created roughly 112,000 new spaces, but with less than two years left in the five-year plan, the goal of 250,000 spaces is at risk. She said the federal government is not collecting consistent data from provinces on whether new spaces are occupied or who uses them, and recommended standardized reporting to assess outcomes like quality and equitable access. She noted that five provinces and three territories have already reached $10-a-day care, but sustainability is a concern.

On Indigenous services, Hogan highlighted that progress on recommendations from a 2022 report on emergency management was unsatisfactory, with fewer service agreements in place now than then and no tripartite agreements signed. She identified four barriers to progress: lack of sustained management attention, unclear service levels, a passive and siloed approach, and insufficient capacity-building in First Nations communities. She urged Indigenous Services Canada to rethink its engagement approach to achieve meaningful change.

The committee debated a motion by Gérard Deltell to immediately study the CRA contact centre audit, with the first meeting on October 23, 2025, and witnesses including CRA officials and the Auditor General. Some members asked for time to review the motion, while others argued for urgency; the motion was not resolved during the meeting.