Benefit Programs and Other Services

Expected Outcome

Performance Summary – We have mostly met this Anticipated Result, as demonstrated by the following performance against expectations:

• implemented the GST/HST Credit Responsiveness Initiative to make the credit responsive to changes in family circumstances
• maintained awareness of our benefit programs through outreach activities and information programs
• maintained client satisfaction at generally the same level as recorded in our Baseline 2000 Survey
• enhanced information offerings on alternative service channels, to help reduce our clients' need to call
• however, did not meet some of our internal performance targets for caller accessibility and telephone service levels

In July 2002, we implemented the GST/HST Credit Responsiveness Initiative. With this change, the quarterly credit amount we pay now takes into account children turning 19, as well as in-year changes to family size, marital status, residency, and incarcerations, in a manner that is aligned with the CCTB. We estimate that there were over 380,000 in-year changes to GST/HST credit payment amounts in the July 2002-June 2003 benefit year due to this initiative. In July 2002, we also implemented new indexation-related benefit and threshold levels for the CCTB.

Although our clients rely heavily on telephone communication with us, our service delivery strategy is to reduce our clients' need to call by offering alternative channels of contact. Clients can now get general information about the programs we administer through the Web-based Interactive Information Service we launched in 2003. We expanded our on-line simulator to allow clients to estimate their quarterly GST/HST credit payment amounts. In all, the number of visits to our Child and Family Benefits Web site increased by over 50% in 2002-2003. Agencies to whom we pay Children's Special Allowances for children in their care also expanded their use of electronic filing, with 19% of agencies covering 57% of children now reporting monthly care changes electronically rather than through paper-based processes. The strategy of offering alternative service channels appears to be working, as the number of calls handled through our enquiries lines declined for the second consecutive year, from 10.3 million to 9.3 million calls in 2002-2003.

Nevertheless, we are still not meeting targets for telephone service. We continued to meet our 80-85% target range for caller accessibility, which measures the percentage of unique callers who reach our telephone service, with 84% accessibility for CCTB calls. However, we achieved only 65% accessibility for GST/HST credit enquiries in 2002-2003. The increasing complexity of calls due to the implementation of the GST/HST Credit Responsiveness Initiative may have been at least partially responsible for the decline in caller accessibility from 71% in the prior year. The length of time to complete these client enquiries increased by almost 20 seconds per call, which may reflect the increased information requirements of clients now that the credit amount is adjusted in-year. We are continuing to explore how to reach the 80-85% target range for these calls.

1-1 Caller Accessibility

Our timeliness in answering calls also remains below our internal performance target of answering 80% of calls within two minutes of entering the queue.

1-2 Service Level – Percentage of Telephone Calls Responded to Within Two Minutes

The goal to develop telephone service standards for CCTB has been delayed to 2004-2005, with implementation scheduled for 2005-2006.

We use a variety of communications tools to reach potential benefit and credit recipients, as well as to inform new and existing clients about their entitlements and how to access benefits.

• Program information inserts in July 2002 to over 2.8 million CCTB clients and over 9.1 million GST/HST credit clients
• Inserts promoting the National Child Benefit initiative to over 800,000 clients on behalf of five provinces and two territories
• Pamphlets and applications to newcomers via Citizenship and Immigration Canada
• Information in Government of Canada Services for Children and their Families
• A mail-out to encourage recipients of the Old Age Security pension to file a return to apply to receive the GST/HST credit, as well as to apply for the Guaranteed Income Supplement (in cooperation with Human Resources Development Canada)

Our Annual Survey indicates that client awareness of the requirement to inform us that their address has changed remains very high: 94% for CCTB clients, and 93% for GST/HST credit clients. Our most recent study of the take-up rate for the GST/HST credit indicates that it remains high, at 98.5% of filers who were potentially eligible for the 2001-2002 benefit year. These results are at least in part attributable to the effectiveness of our communications efforts. A study to determine the current take-up rate for the CCTB program will be completed in the fall of 2003.

According to our surveys, most indicators of client satisfaction with our performance in delivering benefits remained reasonably high. Our Annual Survey¹ indicates that 70% of CCTB clients and 76% of GST/HST credit recipients believe the CCRA is doing a good or very good job administering these programs.

First-time CCTB applicants were also surveyed to determine their satisfaction with three aspects of the application process. While we are cautious in attributing too much significance to the results due to a low response rate (18%), the survey indicated very high levels of satisfaction with the process, results that are consistent with those found in previous years.

1-3 Canada Child Tax Benefit First-Time Applicants Survey – Satisfaction Rates

Date modified:

2003-10-29