Meeting 19 · December 4, 2025 · 11:00–13:04 (2h 4m)
45-11 witness · 124 interventions · 8,771 words
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee met to study service delivery at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), focusing on the Auditor General’s recent report and the government’s 100-day improvement plan. Appearing as a witness was Jean-François Fortin, Deputy Commissioner of the CRA, alongside Secretary of State Wayne Long, who is responsible for the CRA and financial institutions.
Secretary of State Long testified that he took accountability for the CRA from his swearing-in on May 13, 2025, and that he immediately worked to fix the problem resolution service for MPs, reallocating 50 to 60 additional staff to bring response times back to five days. He outlined a 100-day plan with four pillars: increasing call-answer capacity, expanding digital self-service options, addressing call drivers upstream, and accelerating service modernization, noting that calls answered within 15 minutes had risen from 34% to over 74%. Long accepted the Auditor General’s report but disputed its finding that only 17% of calls received accurate information, arguing the sample of 167 general-inquiry calls was too small compared to the CRA’s own 100,000-sample quality assurance showing 90% accuracy, and he emphasized that the CRA’s tax-file-specific answers were 90% accurate. He recommended a three- to five-year plan to make the CRA a G7 gold standard, highlighted a transition from an IBM to a Bell phone system by 2026, and noted a pilot for call scheduling on the disability tax credit, while disagreeing with the Bloc Québécois member’s criticism that short-term contract hires undermined training quality.
Deputy Commissioner Jean-François Fortin added that the CRA would improve training and place greater emphasis on answer accuracy in employee performance evaluations, responding to the Auditor General’s finding that evaluations prioritized speed and adherence over correctness. He did not disagree with any other witness.
The committee’s questioning included procedural debate, with Conservative members pressing Long to state whether he agreed with the Auditor General’s report—he ultimately said he accepted it but disagreed with its methodology on accuracy—and challenging his defence of the former minister. The Bloc Québécois member criticized the 100-day plan as short-sighted and urged long-term hiring continuity, while Liberal members praised Long’s business background and the plan’s progress. No motions or votes were recorded.
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Jean-François Fortin
Deputy Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency
Opening remarks
Training is an important part of our operations. Every time we hire new people, they go through several weeks of training. There is also continuing education, as you mentioned, for—