To achieve our goal, we have adopted a People First approach that will guide our transformation and allow us to serve Canadians better over the long term. The way organizations deliver services keeps evolving and Canadians expect us to keep up. We know Canadians want to see action and real results, and we are committed to meeting their needs and expectations, whether they interact with us in person, by phone, mail or online.

The CRA's People First Approach

Through our public consultations, surveys, social media, and other feedback channels, Canadians have been clear: they want services that are:

• personal and tailored to their individual needs
• easier to understand
• accurate and consistent
• more accessible when they need it
• available through modern channels

Canadians want to see action. This tax season, you will begin seeing improvements that respond to what we have heard. Using a People First approach, the CRA is:

• making information more helpful and easier to understand,
• providing more convenient access to services and support, and
• ensuring Canadians feel understood, respected and valued.

Designing and delivering improvements with Canadians

Acknowledging individual needs is a key factor of our People First approach. Feedback is necessary to make changes to our programs and services. This means individuals from various backgrounds, including the Canadians who interact with us on a daily basis, will have opportunities to tell us what they think, collaborate with us and work together to build real solutions that meet their needs.

We want to build trust with Canadians by inviting them to participate as valuable contributors to the design or redesign of a product, program, or service. Canadians' needs and expectations will stay at the core of our solutions, which is particularly important as we work to solve complex issues that have significant legal and security implications.

We can now actually contribute positively towards some of the things that are being thought of on the CRA side, that was surprising but it's a very welcome surprise.Co-creation session participant

Being transparent about our progress

As part of our commitment to service excellence, we will measure our performance against the aspects of service that matter most to those we serve, such as accuracy and timeliness, and share the results with Canadians. We will do more to gain Canadians' trust by putting in place ambitious and meaningful performance measures that better respond to our clients’ needs.

We will also assess the overall service experience of our clients across their entire journey in interacting with us and benchmark these experiences to those of similar organizations. This will allow us to make more informed choices on where to invest resources that will directly improve experiences of Canadians.

Creating a culture of putting people first

To serve Canadians better, we will equip our employees with the proper tools and training. We are committed to promoting a healthy workplace and a diverse workforce that exemplifies service excellence. Empowering our people to excel with the right tools and resources will ensure that they always put people first.

Recently, we adopted guiding principles meant to shape how CRA employees work with each other and with the public. These principles will drive decision making and provide a framework for expected behaviours at all levels within the CRA, allowing us to make progress toward our goal to be trusted, fair and helpful by putting people first.

• We are people-centric. We understand people's needs and expectations for better programs and services.
• We are supportive. We help people understand and meet their obligations and responsibilities, and use the resources available to them.
• We are innovative. We embrace change and approach situations with a sense of curiosity and innovation.
• We are one team. We collaborate toward a unified goal of providing successful programs and services for all.
• We are fair. Our decisions are grounded in quality information, fairness, integrity and engagement.

At the end of every tax or benefit return, there is a real person who is depending on us to provide trusted, fair and helpful service.CRA employee

Our journey to serving Canadians better

We are putting people first because we care about meeting Canadians’ needs and expectations, helping them navigate the tax and benefit system, helping them meet their tax obligations, and helping them get the benefits and credits they are entitled to. We will continue to seek feedback from Canadians and challenge ourselves to deliver for them. Starting this tax season and over the coming months and years, we will continue to make information more helpful and easier to understand, provide more convenient access to services and support, and make sure Canadians feel understood, respected and valued.

It is exciting to see how we are united in placing people at the centre of everything we do, and supporting each other in providing better services.CRA employee

Related topics

Serving Canadians Better at the Canada Revenue Agency

Report on the Canada Revenue Agency's 2018 Serving You Better consultations with small and medium businesses

External Advisory Panel on Service