Common menu bar links
Breadcrumb Trail
ARCHIVED - Canada Revenue Agency
This page has been archived.
Archived Content
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome
Overview
Our Program Activity Architecture identifies our program activities and demonstrates how they link to our strategic outcomes. This framework is based on the Management, Resources and Results Structure, established by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat on April 1, 2005, which provides a structure for organizing, integrating, and presenting plans, budgets, and performance measures.
For each program activity, we present planned spending, priorities, and related deliverables for the planning period, as well as a broad overview of human resource challenges to demonstrate the integration of our business and human resources planning.
Taxpayer and Business Assistance (PA1)
Benefit to Canadians
Planned Spending by Program Activity
Sub-Activity: Enquiries and Information Services
Expected Result and Measures
Our Priorities
Strengthening Service
The key to a fair revenue administration is ensuring that information regarding taxpayer obligations is timely and accessible. Canadians are using multiple channels (Web, My Account, My Business Account, telephone, in-person) to satisfy their service requirements.
We will expand our research and analysis to better understand segments of the taxpayer population and their service needs and expectations. This will help us make decisions about product and service design, development, and improvement. We will enhance the suite of self-service options on the Web to reduce the need for taxpayers to call or visit an office for information and assistance. This will be supported by printed publications, telephone support for more complex enquiries, and in-person service.
Our approach is in line with a general trend among tax agencies, as reported by the OECD. Most want to shift taxpayer contact from face-to-face interactions to more self-service options, with agent assistance readily accessible to support self-service when required. This can be accomplished through help lines to facilitate online services or through agents to explain the more complex situations or deal with account-specific issues and transactions.
We will optimize the telephone channel as it remains a popular way for taxpayers to contact us. Our 1-800 telephone services provide help and information to taxpayers through automated and agent-assisted services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These networks balance call volumes across the country and allow us to provide more cost-effective service.
We find that Internet and telephone service channels complement each other. Taxpayers can self-serve to obtain information on the Web site, which frees up our telephone agents to respond to the longer, more complex account-specific enquiries. We will enhance training and job aids for our agents to help them respond more efficiently to complex calls. Our planned development of new multimedia training products and applications linking agents’ desktops to appropriate reference material will reduce the time needed to research topics, enabling faster responses.
We acknowledged that our previous caller accessibility targets for individual and business enquiries were not high enough to satisfy needs. Consequently, we increased these targets to 90% for 2008-2009 and will maintain these enhanced targets.
Over the planning period we will continue to conduct studies on the individual enquiries and business enquiries business lines. As well, our quality assurance program will be further enhanced through improved online data capture of agent accuracy assessments. Data gathered will be used to strengthen call quality, as well as identify agent training needs, procedural and accuracy trends, and product and service gaps.
We will strengthen outreach activities to increase our visibility in the community and help make taxpayers and benefit recipients aware of their obligations and entitlements. Conducting our own research, as well as considering the results of research papers from other agencies, helps us identify areas on which to focus our outreach activities.
We are exploring partnerships with other government departments for a joint approach to outreach activities. We are also reviewing the prospect of working with organizations to deliver initiatives such as the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP).
We continue to seek opportunities to maximize our use of technology in conducting outreach activities. Examples include the development of a CVITP CD, which can be used to train volunteers and bring the program to areas we could not previously reach.
The program priorities we will pursue over the planning period are listed in the table below.
Priority Initiatives
Human Resources Challenges
The primary challenge we face in this program sub-activity is attracting and retaining a flexible part-time workforce to efficiently meet fluctuating program demands. In addition, we must find ways to change our work approaches so that less work is bound by geography.
Sub-Activity: Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs
Expected Results and Measures
Our Priorities
Tax Integrity
We deal with the challenges of non-compliance by continually enhancing the effectiveness of our excise programs. To this end, in cooperation with other federal government organizations, we work diligently to maintain and enhance compliance with Canada’s tobacco laws and to support our partners as they address the issue of contraband tobacco.
During the planning period, we will maintain our efforts to implement an innovative Tobacco Compliance Strategy, which includes increased verification for manufacturers, additional monitoring and control of raw leaf tobacco growers, and an enhanced tobacco stamping regime. We will also:
- introduce an innovative stamp to strengthen controls over the manufacture and distribution of tobacco products, and
- work with national and international partners in the development of additional practical and effective measures to control the production and distribution of tobacco products.
This will enhance compliance with Canada’s tobacco tax laws, reducing the illicit trade in tobacco products.
We will implement a risk-based approach to registered plans to streamline the registration process, and we will increase the audit coverage through random and targeted audits.
To improve the overall regulatory environment, we also intend to expand our collaboration with provincial and territorial governments. We will focus our efforts on inter-provincial tax avoidance to address the techniques used by corporations to shift income between provinces and territories.
Strengthening Service
We will work to improve our performance in issuing advance income tax rulings within an average of 60 days.
As part of our strategy to enhance service delivery, we will upgrade our toll-free enquiries line for registered plans, make more information available on our Web site, and improve our outreach activities and electronic publications.
In an effort to modernize and strengthen the charities program, we will enhance our electronic service offerings and access to program information through the Internet, starting with a new section for donors. We will pursue the smooth implementation of a graduated approach to administering the new sanctions regime. We will also implement the Charities Registration (Security Information) Act, which supports Canada’s national security agenda and international obligations to counter terrorism.
We will modernize and improve the Canada Pension Plan/Employment Insurance (CPP/EI) rulings program to include converting requests for CPP/EI rulings to electronic format.
The program priorities we will pursue over the planning period are listed in the table below.
Priority Initiatives
Human Resources Challenges
The CRA must ensure that it maintains the technical knowledge base required to continue serving as Canada’s ultimate authority for the interpretation of tax legislation. Methodologies for profiling key technical areas within the CRA, as well as the associated technical knowledge, are in the process of being developed. Such a diagnostic exercise will serve as an essential step in determining risk areas, and in establishing an inventory of technical knowledge and experience requirements that form the basis of the CRA’s technical capacity. From this inventory, recruitment, staffing, succession planning, and knowledge transfer strategies can be developed to address any gaps, whether current or forecasted. Such an exercise is even more important considering the CRA’s susceptibility to changes in technical knowledge requirements, which result from the expanded use of the tax system by governments.
Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing (PA2)
Benefit to Canadians
Our aim is to deliver efficient and effective high-volume processing of individual and business tax returns and payments, thereby promoting voluntary compliance and contributing to the protection of Canada’s revenue base.
Planned Spending by Program Activity
Expected Results and Measures
Our Priorities
Tax Integrity
We will optimize program efficiency and accurate assessment of tax owed through enhancement and integration of common data systems to add efficiencies and allow the transmission of electronic communication to businesses. We will also remove specific barriers and exclusions for electronic filing.
We will augment our processing and assessing system to handle increased volumes, accept a higher number of information slips, and provide up-front validation of data submitted. This will enable us to improve services for taxpayers, facilitate compliance, and reduce the necessity for post-filing contact due to issues with information slips.
Because front-end processing is automated, we will enhance our ability to address non-compliance by focusing on following through on discrepancies, correcting errors, validating claims, and helping individuals and businesses comply in areas of new legislation. We will implement all required federal, provincial, and territorial legislative changes, giving effect to the tax agendas of governments across Canada and promoting efficiency in delivery.
Strengthening Service
As Canadians increasingly embrace our service modernization initiatives, we will continue to promote multiple, integrated, and accessible channels, while encouraging and enabling more individuals and businesses to conduct their tax and benefit affairs electronically. We have already made significant investments in upgrades to ensure that our systems are state of the art, and we will allocate additional resources over the planning period to support further modernization of our remaining core systems.
We will enhance our electronic services such as My Account, My Business Account, and Represent a client to provide quick and easy delivery of individual and business tax information and services. We will enhance electronic payment options for individuals and small businesses through the My payment e-service.
During the planning period, enhancements to My Account will enable Canadians to view their Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) information online. Beginning in 2009, the TFSA will allow Canadians to set money aside in qualifying investment vehicles and watch those savings grow tax-free. In 2010, the CRA will determine and provide the TFSA contribution room for each eligible individual who files an income tax return.
We will maintain and enhance our relationships with partners, working with stakeholders to increase the use of e-services and the use of the Business Number as a common identifier for business and government at the federal, provincial, and territorial levels. The 2009 implementation of harmonized corporate tax returns for Ontario corporations will deliver enormous service benefits for businesses, and it will further promote the take-up of electronic filing.
The program priorities we will pursue over the planning period are listed in the table below.
Priority Initiatives
Human Resources Challenges
Our ability to provide high-quality, cost-effective service relies heavily on having skilled people in the right places. Consequently we must have effective succession planning to ensure that knowledgeable and skilled people are in place to support our field operations.
Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance (PA3)
Benefit to Canadians
Our aim is to promote and enforce compliance with Canada’s tax laws for filing, withholding, registering, remitting and debt obligations, including those amounts collected or withheld in trust on behalf of the Government of Canada, as well as the provinces, the territories, and certain First Nations governments.
Planned Spending by Program Activity
Expected Results and Measures
Our Priorities
The majority of Canadians comply with tax laws and their obligations. However, there is a need to continue with our efforts to deter those individuals who are participating or contemplating participating in remittance non-compliance.
Tax Integrity
Key Corporate Risk: Growth in tax debt
Strategy to address: Develop an initial tactical plan based on our risk management framework
Managing the level of tax debt is critical to preventing any potential erosion of Canada’s revenue base. The level of tax debt is influenced by numerous factors, including many variables that are outside of our control, such as changing taxpayer compliance patterns, economic stability on an international scale, and growth in the number of strategic bankruptcies.
Over the planning period we will dedicate resources to a range of key activities. We will enhance our risk strategy framework to assess the risks presented by different segments of the debt inventory, and we will address our capacity to deal with the growth in debts arising from such activities as aggressive international tax planning. We will establish the liaison function and protocol to ensure that issues from any overlap in common accounts with the Ministry of Revenue of the Province of Ontario are addressed. Additionally, we will finalize the implementation of our insolvency strategy to identify high-risk strategic bankruptcies and to help eliminate bad debts as soon as possible.
We will improve the detection of remittance, filing, and withholding non-compliance for employers and GST/HST registrants. Our compliance strategies have a significant and positive influence on the tax base. For example, the total revenue being generated from payroll taxes and remitted to the government increases each year. The CRA will also continue to partner with internal and external stakeholders to reduce the withholding, remitting, and reporting burden for small businesses.
The creation and implementation of the Trust Compliance National Inventory will allow more efficient and effective resolution of employer non-compliance. This strategy will also eliminate restrictive geographic boundaries.
The Performance Management Framework is the foundation of how we measure our successes in identifying and addressing non-compliance in this program activity. We will improve this framework to better reflect the work we do and the measurement of our results, in terms of identifying and addressing non-compliance with filing, registering, remitting, and reporting requirements.
The CRA has also developed strategies that focus on improving non-compliance in the areas of GST/HST filings and registrations, and personal and corporate income tax filings. We will use new risk-assessment and data-mining techniques to improve the detection of filing and registration non-compliance.
Our focus on maintaining and enhancing the non-filer/non-registrant underground economy identification projects will help combat the underground economy by targeting industry-specific projects.
The program priorities we will pursue over the planning period are listed in the table below.
Priority Initiatives
Human Resources Challenges
As we move forward with implementing new tools and resources, our employees will face the challenges of learning and adapting to new technologies. It is critical to our success that we ensure that our workforce is skilled and knowledgeable. Therefore, there is a need to develop and provide innovative training tools for our workforce in a timely manner.
Reporting Compliance (PA4)
Benefit to Canadians
Our aim is to help protect Canada’s tax revenue through a range of verification, audit, and enforcement activities, as well as through education. Our activities focus on the accuracy and completeness with which taxpayers determine their tax liability.
Planned Spending by Program Activity
Expected Result and Measures
Our Priorities
Part of the way we earn the trust of Canadians is by dealing effectively with those who choose to operate outside of the tax system. Canadians want to see evidence of a fair and equitable tax administration; they want to see the results of actions taken against those who are not compliant.
Key Corporate Risk: Non-compliance with tax legislation
Strategy to address: Identify the highest risks and adjust program priorities to address them
Tax Integrity
We are working to address high-risk areas, such as Aggressive Tax Planning, the Underground Economy, and GST/HST high-risk compliance. We are building our business intelligence through strengthened compliance research and risk assessment techniques, including the development of risk profiles of taxpayer segments. We are also taking measures to address other compliance issues, such as the concerns of provinces and territories regarding inter-provincial tax avoidance and provincial/territorial income allocations.
We will use communications as a compliance tool. Taxpayers will be informed about the risks of non-compliance and about the results of compliance actions that the CRA has undertaken. Such communication helps to enhance the public’s trust that the CRA is actively protecting Canada’s tax base.
Tax intermediaries are an integral component of Canada’s tax system. The majority perform a valuable role in explaining complex tax laws to their clients, assisting them in planning their tax affairs in a manner that legitimately minimizes taxes owing, while ensuring the full benefit of the many social and economic incentive programs delivered by the tax system.
At the same time, the CRA is aware that some intermediaries encourage non-compliance and, in such instances, the CRA will use all available enforcement tools to address those who do not comply, or encourage others not to comply, with Canada’s tax laws.
We will strengthen intelligence-based risk profiling by expanding the use of information gained at the local, regional, national, and international levels. We will further strengthen compliance research and risk assessment by linking our research agenda to the agency compliance priorities, which will allow us to gather intelligence and identify risk in support of business planning, resource allocation, and program development.
Compliance System Redesign (CSR) is a major business transformation initiative designed to enhance our capacity to manage compliance programs more effectively. CSR provides a modern business solution that will enhance our ability to target non-compliance and select appropriate files for audit by improving our risk assessment, workload selection, and audit tools and processes.
Strengthening Service
We will enhance the administration of the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program to make it more effective for Canadian businesses. Our actions will facilitate access to the program, improve its consistency and predictability, and enhance the quality of the claims process.
We will enhance the administration of the Voluntary Disclosures Program by updating our policies and procedures and improving training and monitoring to make the administration of the program more consistent across the country.
The program priorities we will pursue over the planning period are listed in the table below.
Priority Initiatives
Human Resources Challenges
We will develop effective learning tools and training programs to facilitate and build capacity through a number of initiatives. These include increasing the technical capacity of our auditors by re-engineering the model for delivering of auditor technical training. In addition, our Compliance Programs Workforce Strategic Plan will guide the recruitment, retention, and knowledge transfer of our workforce.
Appeals (PA5)
Benefit to Canadians
Our commitment is to fairness, and our aim is to provide a timely redress process, whereby taxpayers can dispute CRA decisions regarding their income tax, commodity tax, and CPP/EI files, or register their complaints about the services they have received from the CRA.
Planned Spending by Program Activity
Expected Results and Measures
Our Priorities
Consistent with a tax system that is fair and just, when taxpayers disagree with us we provide them with the opportunity for redress. Over the planning period, we will review our processes with a view to improving productivity, while keeping in mind the need to provide a correct decision in all cases. In addition, we will seek opportunities to enhance our online appeals services to meet taxpayer demand.
We will integrate the Problem Resolution Program and our CRA Service Complaints initiative. The CRA Service Complaints, Taxpayer Bill of Rights, and Taxpayers’ Ombudsman initiatives were introduced to provide taxpayers with an additional level of confidence in the CRA’s service. We will support these initiatives by resolving service level complaints and providing a link to the taxpayer and the appropriate CRA function or the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman.
We will implement a new taxpayer relief provisions system. This will enable better tracking and management of the requests for taxpayer relief and allow us to improve our reporting and analysis capabilities.
We will address the challenges of dealing with increasing mandatory workloads, revising our performance measures to reflect the realities of our programs. Of particular note are our current transparency targets related to income tax and commodity tax objections and appeals. The 100% targets, though ideal, are unattainable and will be revised.
We will ensure a smooth transition for the successful implementation of the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario initiative as it affects appeals activities. This will be achieved through the seamless integration of objection and appeals activities and result in a reduction in the compliance burden for Ontario corporations.
The program priorities we will pursue over the planning period are listed in the table below.
Priority Initiatives
Human Resources Challenges
In certain areas of the country, staffing realities challenge the capacity of the appeals program activity. Historically, appeals staff has been recruited primarily from CRA audit staff for which there has been a wide career scope. Our challenge is to enhance the relatively specialized appeals function through our own demographic analysis and the ability to move work between offices and regions to provide opportunities for enhancing the career path of appeals officers.
Benefit Programs (PA6)
Benefits to Canadians
Our aim is to ensure that timely and correct benefit payments are issued to eligible families and individuals through effective service delivery. In addition, we aim to reduce the overall cost of government through efficiencies obtained by reduced duplication in administration and delivery functions.
Planned Spending by Program Activity
Expected Results and Measures
Our Priorities
Strengthening Service
Providing timely and accurate payments to all of our recipients is our first priority. To ensure that service levels will be met in the future, we are making additional investments in the modernization of our systems. We are also working on several initiatives to ensure the ability of our delivery infrastructure to support core business and growth.
We are adding to our service quality through the creation of new electronic research options, by modernizing and improving our working and testing systems, by expanding training, and by strengthening our procedures manuals.
As more Canadian households access the Internet each year, we will enhance and promote self-service options to reduce costs and provide timely and efficient client service. Over this planning period, we will identify and develop enhancements to the benefits-related pages of My Account, add application and account update functions, and improve services for persons with disabilities.
The electronic and telephone service channels complement each other to provide efficient and effective client support, ranging from supplying general information to dealing with complex account-specific issues and transactions. Therefore we will also optimize the telephone channel.
Our outreach efforts are designed to increase our visibility in the community, to encourage uptake of our programs, and to inform individuals of their entitlements and obligations. We will strengthen outreach and improve our communication with benefit recipients by identifying audiences that could benefit from customized contact. During this planning period we will partner with the Assembly of First Nations to develop targeted education tools, further diversify our efforts to reach out to persons with disabilities, and improve the wording used in our letters and notices.
Benefits Validation
We maintain the confidence of benefit recipients, taxpayers, and client governments by applying validation activities. We use a range of tools to ensure the accuracy of information provided by individuals, focusing on the validation of information from population segments identified as high-risk. Our Benefit Examination Team (BET) analyzes enforcement and deterrence issues. We are refining BET to achieve greater program effectiveness and efficiencies. We are also quantifying the results achieved by our validation program to ensure the best value per dollar spent on compliance.
Effective Relationships
Data gathering efficiencies are achieved and consistent information is used for program calculation when we partner with government clients in authorized information exchanges. Our flexible platform allows us to deliver programs and services on behalf of federal, provincial, and territorial government clients. This reduces the overall administrative costs associated with multiple levels of government, by simplifying administration, eliminating duplication, and limiting compliance burdens. We manage business growth and partnerships to provide the most effective program and service delivery possible, reducing the number of contacts that individuals must make to update program information, benefiting both government clients and recipients. The overall success of our program and service delivery is reflected in the growing number of government clients we have.
During this planning period we are developing an exciting new partnership opportunity that will reduce the application burden on the recipient, improve our ability to issue payments on a timely basis, and reduce administrative costs. We will work with several jurisdictions to develop an automated benefit application process that will allow parents to apply for child benefits by ticking a box on the child’s birth certificate application. Upon receiving consent, the provincial or territorial body that registers the birth will send the applicant’s registration information over a secure communication network to the CRA so that we can determine eligibility for benefits.
The program priorities we will pursue over the planning period are listed in the table below.
Priority Initiatives
Human Resources Challenges
Technological advances such as additional self-service options, plus changes to our employee population, may influence staffing needs. We recognize that, as individuals are increasingly able to apply for benefits and update their account information electronically, the typical path for applying and registering for programs may change. The potential for change is being addressed to ensure successful delivery of programs and services in the future.
We recognize the value of our human resources and we are working to attract and retain a workforce that will meet fluctuating program demands.
Internal Services (PA7)
The CRA delivers high-quality tax, benefit, and related services on behalf of governments across Canada. Business sustainability is the key driver in identifying the CRA’s priorities, ensuring that our tax and benefit services have the guidance, infrastructure, and resources necessary for successful delivery.
Planned Spending by Program Activity
Business Sustainability
The CRA is widely recognized as a highly efficient and strong organization entrusted to administer many essential income tax and income redistribution policies. Effective resource management requires that our resource base be applied optimally, aligning investments with the organization’s strategic direction and priorities.
Following a recent comprehensive review of its program spending, the CRA proposed measures to generate savings while maintaining delivery of critical programs and results to Canadians.
We will optimize program delivery through efficient and effective resource allocation. It is essential for the CRA to continue to promote the efficient and effective use of financial resources. The Resource and Investment Management Committee oversees the CRA’s investment spending and, beginning in 2009-2010, this oversight will be enhanced through the introduction of a more formalized strategic investment planning process. Consistent with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Policy on Investment Planning, this new process will ensure that resources are allocated in a manner that clearly supports program outcomes and government priorities, while addressing the highest risks facing the CRA.
The Federal Accountability Action Plan brought forward 13 specific measures to help strengthen accountability and oversight. Consequently, one of the measures launched by the CRA in 2008-2009 is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Certification Process, where the CEO and the CFO are required to sign an annual Statement of Management Responsibility that includes internal control over financial reporting.
The process will also generate information that will respond to the new provisions of the Financial Administration Act, which designate deputy heads as the accounting officers for their organizations with legal obligations to appear before committees of the Senate and the House of Commons.
In 2009-2010, we will focus on completing the entity-level controls assessment and on starting the assessment of the design and implementation of key process-level and general IT controls that prevent or detect a material misstatement in the CRA’s financial statements.
We will ensure that risk management is applied in a consistent and systematic manner. Effective risk management ensures the continuity of CRA operations, as well as maintenance of services to and protection of the interests of the Canadian public. Since risks are present throughout all government operations, the successful delivery of a program or service is contingent upon the effective identification and management of those risks.
Since its inception in 2005, the Enterprise Risk Management Program has supported decision making and management excellence by defining the corporate context and practices for proactively managing organizational and strategic risks. Through a comprehensive framework, we will ensure that risk management is fully embedded in existing organizational processes, such as strategic planning and reporting; business planning; resource allocations; program and policy development;, and day-to-day decision making.
Key Corporate Risk: Human resources capacity and capability
Strategy to address: Have in place a modern and progressive human resources regime
One aspect of our dedication to excellence in the workplace is our Competency Based Human Resources Management (CBHRM) regime.
CBHRM is a system that ensures that employees are selected, evaluated, developed, and promoted on the basis of competencies that have been identified as crucial to our organizational success. Over the planning period, we will continue with the implementation of CBHRM and look for opportunities to make adjustments and improvements to address our changing business and human resources needs.
We will use an integrated approach to plan for talent and focus on building our capacity to ensure a continuous supply of skilled employees. Further, to meet our business needs, we will strive to develop employee abilities and provide an engaging work environment that supports staff retention and employee mobility.
The CRA has developed a workforce plan that sets out the steps we will take to further understand our strengths and challenges. Over the planning period, we will revise the plan to take into account progress made and new challenges that arise. As we expand our succession planning practices, we will develop a systematic approach for senior managerial and highly technical positions across the CRA.
We will acquire talent to ensure that the business of the CRA continues to accommodate the evolution of our tax and benefits administration. Therefore, we must recruit employees with competencies best suited to our current and future requirements using a variety of recruitment strategies. This includes encouraging and using student bridging as a vehicle for recruiting new graduates into the CRA on a permanent basis.
Additionally, enhancing our staffing program will help managers satisfy their staffing needs in a timely and effective manner, while ensuring that the new employees have the right skills and competencies to do the job.
We will invest in employee development so that we can get the best return for both the organization and the employees.We will also increase the number of employees in management development and assignment programs to ensure management renewal.
We will retain and mobilize talent to ensure that our staff is utilized in the most effective manner. Although the CRA has a high level of employee retention, there is significant employee movement within the organization. We will build upon our existing data and knowledge to more fully understand the occupational groups and/or geographic areas where internal movement is challenging our ability to deliver our programs.
To support a healthy and productive workplace, we will maintain our relationship with the unions by applying the philosophy of the Union Management Initiative in our daily interactions.
Key Corporate Risk: Information technology (IT) responsiveness and sustainability
Strategy to address: Enhance IT capacity and governance to support current and future CRA program and service delivery
The CRA collects and processes massive amounts of data using technology that is fundamental to the delivery of our mission critical service and compliance programs.
We must sustain our strong focus on ensuring that our IT solutions are robust, secure, available, reliable, and recoverable. With a sound IT strategy, and through the right investments, we will be able to respond to challenges and be ready to deliver the IT services required to meet policy changes in tax and benefit programs.
By sharing best practices and contributing to key horizontal projects, we will play a leadership role in the continued development of government business and technology models for electronic service delivery. We will remain a shared service provider to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for IT infrastructure services and Corporate Administrative Services (CAS). We will also work with the CBSA to align our investments in technology.
We will ensure that significant resources are invested in the renewal of our applications to meet growing business needs and achieve long-term sustainability.
We will also enhance our service and product quality and identify opportunities for increased efficiencies by developing effective IT solutions to support the CRA and its clients, including the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario, Integrated Revenue Collections, and Compliance Systems Redesign. We will make strategic investments in our infrastructure so as to facilitate electronic transaction flows from financial institutions.
Through the implementation of a quality program, we will support the continuous improvement of IT standards and practices, development and maintenance practices, and quality. We will also enhance the security, reliability, and flexibility of our IT infrastructure and solutions.
During the planning period, we will partner with Public Works and Government Services Canada on plans for a new data centre facility for the CRA and other federal government departments, while maintaining reliable data centre infrastructure in the short term. We will also continue to develop and advance our data centre recovery and business continuity planning, to ensure recoverability efforts continue to meet business requirements for all CRA systems.
Additionally, we will develop a multi-year asset management plan to support the life cycle management of our IT assets. We will also advance our Enterprise Content Management (ECM) program to address business demands and improve productivity.
We will ensure the effective and secure management of protected taxpayer information. The CRA devotes considerable resources and attention to protecting the vast amount of information that individual taxpayers, benefit recipients, businesses, and trusts provide to us. This is required not only to minimize incidents today, but also to keep pace with the increased threats to information security affecting all holders of protected information globally. Over the planning period, we will make investments to further reduce the possibility of inappropriate access or disclosure of protected taxpayer and benefit recipient information.
In support of this priority, the CRA will develop the Identity and Access Management tool to integrate the identity and access provisioning of all our computing platforms, environments, and applications. We will also modernize the National Audit Trail System, which will allow us to proactively monitor employees’ access to systems containing taxpayer information. As well, the Individual Identification System will be modified to provide increased control over access to taxpayer data by other systems.
During the planning period, we will develop an Internal Fraud Policy and related program requirements to address recommendations stemming from an independent assessment of the internal fraud risk environment.
In addition, we will meet the legislative requirements outlined in the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, and provide guidance, policy advice, and training to CRA employees on their obligations under these Acts.
Key Corporate Risk: Information integrity
Strategy to address: Implement a data stewardship program to ensure that the data collected by the CRA meets the highest standards of quality and horizontality
The availability of high-quality, authoritative information to decision makers supports the delivery of programs and services, thus enabling the CRA to be more responsive and accountable to Canadians.
To this end, we will enhance our information management practices by developing an Information Management Strategy to ensure that the information and data products used within the CRA and shared with clients are of the highest quality. We will also work to advance the implementation of a data stewardship program, and introduce an electronic content management system.
We will express the value the CRA brings to Canadians through our communications. Effective communications enable the CRA to inform Canadians about tax, benefit, and related services and play a critical role in the CRA’s overall approach to compliance. A new Compliance Communications Directive will outline the ways in which the CRA will share its compliance results and increase Canadians’ confidence in its tax systems and its ability to protect Canada’s revenue base. We will also explore new ways of reaching Canadians on the topic of compliance through social media and direct outreach to target audiences such as youth and trade schools.
Priority Initiatives
Conclusion by the Commissioner
As the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, I take pride in being a part of such an outstanding public service organization as it approaches its tenth anniversary. Looking back, I am inspired by how far we have come and how much we have accomplished during the past decade. We embarked on a sweeping program of change to inject fresh ideas into the way we operate and provide service to Canadians. Along the way, we have been recognized for our innovation and our commitment to service excellence, although there remains much left to accomplish.
We have three overarching objectives for this planning period. Tax integrity remains our core focus and will be advanced by addressing key areas of risk. We will remain at the forefront of service to Canadians by further strengthening our service offerings while working to reduce the administrative cost and burden to our stakeholders. Lastly, our focus on business sustainability is what enables us to maintain our high level of performance as world-class administrators of tax and benefits legislation.
Our success in responding effectively to the many challenges we face depends in large part on our people, from my colleagues on the Agency Management Committee who set our plans in motion, to the front line staff who serve Canadians daily. We have a dynamic team that has consistently demonstrated a commitment to the highest standards of program delivery and workplace excellence.
I have full confidence in the abilities of our employees to meet the challenges of change under the direction of our new Minister and the oversight of our Board of Management. I look forward to seeing our plans realized, to the benefit of Canada and Canadians.
William V. Baker
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
Canada Revenue Agency