Introduction

This Summary of the Corporate Business Plan 2004-2005 to 2006-2007 has been written during a period of fundamental change for the Agency and the Government of Canada. In December 2003, the Customs business line of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) was transferred to the new Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), while it was announced that the CCRA would be re-mandated as the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to reflect our focus on tax and benefit administration. Negotiations on the division of corporate resources have been completed and are reflected in this Summary. The Summary continues to refer to the Agency as the “CCRA,” pending formal legislative change.

As a nation, Canada faces a number of challenges with implications for the CCRA: remaining competitive while globalization increases; sustaining social programs challenged by external forces, demographic changes, and cost pressures; and the evolving federal-provincial dynamic. Each of these challenges will require more agile and effective instruments of governance.

The CCRA has a key role to play in the Government of Canada’s response to these challenges. The CCRA collects over $310 billion in revenue every year, funds necessary to sustain Canada’s economic and social programs. The CCRA also redistributes over $11 billion in federal and provincial credits and benefits. Finally, the CCRA makes up about one-fifth of the federal public service.

This year also marks our fifth year as an agency, and we will reflect on our progress through the Parliamentary five-year review. The provision of more integrated client services and promotion of partnerships with the provinces, territories and other organizations have been key achievements of the first five years of the Agency’s existence. Also notable has been the administrative and management autonomy achieved through separate employer and agency status. This has been strengthened by the uniqueness of our Board of Management which provides administrative oversight and strategic guidance. Agency status has allowed not only internal human resource, administrative and governance improvements, but has also provided a means for improving the quality of client services.

Our Strategic Outcome statement for this planning period is “Compliance with Canada’s tax laws and the effective delivery of benefits and other programs and services.” While the CCRA continues to focus on quality service as the prime means to ensure high rates of voluntary compliance, we also strive to refine our compliance programs and strategies to ensure income is reported, taxes are assessed, taxes owed are collected, and Canadians receive their rightful share of entitlements. Having the right mix of programs to address areas of high risk and non-compliance is fundamental to achieving our strategic outcome.

Our Strategic Framework, which orients our planning and reporting activities, is described in Exhibit 1. Note that this Strategic Framework will change for our next planning period (2005-2006 to 2007-2008) due to work being driven by Treasury Board Secretariat to ensure a proper alignment of government priorities and resources.

For this planning period, and with the transfer of Customs, we have four business lines: Tax Services, Benefit Programs and Other Services, Appeals, and Corporate Management and Direction.

This Summary of the Corporate Business Plan 2004-2005 to 2006-2007 outlines, for each business line, our priorities, strategies, and initiatives and the results we expect to achieve over the next three years. It also identifies the resources needed to fulfil our mandate and achieve our strategic outcome.

We have identified four Agency-wide priorities for the planning period:

• trust and integrity – to increase attention to security, privacy of information, and ethics, and to support public expectations for enhanced accountability in the management of public monies
• tax integrity – to enhance the overall fairness and integrity of Canada’s tax regime while addressing key areas of risk with an appropriate mix of service and enforcement actions
• service to Canadians – to continue modernizing tax and benefit services, while working across departments and with other levels of government to improve service and reduce the overall cost of program administration
• business sustainability – to reallocate resources and realize further savings and productivity in order to support strong core tax and benefits programs, while continuing to invest in service innovations and pursuing new partnership opportunities

Exhibit 1: Strategic Framework

Date modified:

2004-10-08