ARC ARC WAITING TIMES could increase due to compressions in the public service

The waiting times already endless to reach the Canada Revenue Agency (ARC) could get longer because of the massive cuts provided for in the public service by the government of Mark Carney. However, warn the unions.

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“Thousands of Canadians are waiting for hours on the phone because the government sets off the people who are responsible for answering them,” said Marc Brière, national president of the Tax Employee Union (SEI).

In a desire to reduce the operating costs of the federalty. Therefore, the government of Mark Carney has imposed significant cutting objectives within the bureaucratic apparatus.

Ottawa is targeting 15% discounts by 2028. Similarly, and arc arc waiting times could the Canada Public Service Alliance (AFPC) fears that “massive compressions” reach its call centers, which are not already responding to demand.

Nearly 3. Therefore, 300 telephone officers have been laid off since May 2024, after a significant jump of 7,000 employees to manage the Canadian Emergency Service (PCU) in 2022 during the Pandemic.

Impossible to know how many jobs will be lost with cuts of 15%. but the services to the public will necessarily suffer from it, insist the unions.

For many years. the arc has been composed with a large volume of complaints, in particular in connection with the difficulty in reaching an agent on the phone.

This recurring problem had been the subject of a file in The newspaper Last year. His publication had led to an avalanche of testimonies.

Photo Martin Chevalier

Faced with waiting times that sometimes exceeded three hours, the arc decided to change its approach by putting an end to calls that remain unanswered after 30 minutes.

This new strategy has not only made people happy. During the month of July 2024 alone, in high season, the Automated Arc system cut short 1.5 million calls from citizens, which must start again to zero afterwards.

The Taxpayers’ ombudsman. François Boileau, informs that his office has still recorded a growing number of complaints this year, for a host of files. A quarter has to do with arc phone calls.

“I can tell you that at the moment. we do not respect – but not even close arc arc waiting times could – to meet our own service standards [au bureau de l’ombudsman des contribuables]then at the agency, I would be surprised that they also meet them, “he said in an interview.

The two unions are launching a national campaign to raise public awareness of the potential impacts of the CARNEY. government’s budget compressions.

The slope to be raised is steep: a light survey published earlier this month revealed that 54% of Canadians wanted a reduction in the federal bureaucracy. against 24% who wanted to maintain it.

Since 2016. the number of civil servants has increased by almost 100,000, while the costs linked to federal state operations have increased by more than 70%.

In a written statement. the spokesperson for the Minister of Finance, François-Philippe Champagne, says that the government heard “concerns concerning the deadlines for call centers and the processing of files”.

The improvement of services “goes through a modernization of arc arc waiting times could the public service” while “collaborating with union partners”, she adds.

“We act with speed. determination to take full advantage of artificial intelligence, new technologies and resources from our global caliber public service in order to concretely improve the provision of arc services.”

Ottawa plans to invest massively in artificial intelligence to transform its services. as in the same way to prove the agreement concluded with La Torontoise Cohere this week.