CRA Annual Corporate Survey: 2009 Study

Prepared for the:
Public Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
FINAL REPORT
September 2009
POR# 011-09
Contract #46558-107586/001/CY

Prepared by:
Environics Research Group

Le rapport complet en français sera fourni sur demande.

To request a full copy of this report, please contact Library and Archives Canada at:
613-996-5115 or 1-866-578-7777 or www.collectionscanada.ca

Media Enquiries:
Media Relations
Canada Revenue Agency
4th Floor 555 MacKenzie Avenue
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5
media.relations@cra-arc.gc.ca

Executive Summary

Research purpose and objectives

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is responsible for administering taxation laws for the Government of Canada. The Agency undertakes research on a regular basis to measure Canadians' experiences and satisfaction with the services and programs that the CRA provides. Since 2000, the CRA has been conducting an annual survey with national representative samples of Canadians to assess attitudes towards the Agency and satisfaction with aspects of specific programs. In 2005, the CRA redesigned the annual survey to focus on corporate-wide issues and established a new baseline for measuring the Agency's performance over the next five-year period (2005 to 2009). The current survey is the fifth and final wave of this tracking study. The study will allow the CRA to:

• measure high level indicators about the environment within which it operates;
• obtain data which can be used in the support of corporate initiatives such as Branding and Strategic Planning; and
• provide data for required Agency reporting, such as the Management Accountability Framework (MAF), Board of Management Oversight Framework (BoMOF), the annual report to Parliament, etc.

Methodology

The Agency's 2009 Annual Corporate Survey was conducted by Environics Research Group. The survey consisted of telephone interviews conducted June 25 to July 22, 2009, with 4,000 Canadians. The questionnaire was largely the same as the one used in 2008, with two questions removed and one question added to the core survey, and no "dynamic" section was asked. The sample was stratified to provide meaningful results in each of the 10 provinces. A national sample of this size will provide results accurate to within plus or minus 1.5 percentage points in 19 out of 20 samples (larger margins of error apply for subgroups of this population). A more detailed descrip­tion of the methodology used to conduct this survey is presented at the back of the full report, along with a copy of the questionnaire (see Appendix).

This research was contracted at $155,863.89 (GST/HST included).

Key findings

The 2009 Annual Corporate Survey confirms that the Canada Revenue Agency has succeeded in establishing and maintaining a generally positive public image among Canadians, both in terms of overall perception and, more specifically, the taxpayer services it offers. This is a noteworthy achievement given the changes in the financial and political climate that have taken place over the past five years. Four in ten Canadians consistently rate the Agency's overall performance as "excellent or good," and a further four in ten say it is acceptable. A growing number of Canadians are familiar with the Agency's name, and the vast majority understand its function and know it is not responsible for setting income tax rates or policy. The CRA is widely considered to meet or exceed the expect­a­tions of accuracy, effectiveness and confidentiality that Canadians require from an organi­zation that deals with their personal financial information.

The majority of Canadians report a neutral or positive response to completing their income tax return, and eight in ten got the assessment outcome they expected, suggesting that Canadians are not finding the income tax filing system to be too onerous. Of course, it is consistently the case that seven in ten get help with their taxes, but those who do their own taxes also have consistently high opinions about the Agency.

Overall satisfaction with a recent service contact and complete satisfaction with key service aspects has remained strong over the five years of tracking. The Agency is widely thought to treat taxpayers fairly, and its staff are believed to be knowledgeable and competent; access to service like­wise does not seem to cause difficulties. A solid eight in ten Canadians who required service from the CRA in the past year report getting what they needed out of their most recent contact. Main­taining this high success rate in service contacts is key to continuing the Agency's solid reputation as a competent and professional organization. Level of satisfaction with service is linked to overall approval of the Agency's performance, and ratings of the CRA and its service contribute to more general perceptions about taxation and about the federal government as a whole.

Complete agreement with statements about the CRA's integral values have been consistently high since tracking began. Agreement continues to be highest for "character" values such as honesty, confidentiality and professionalism than for the more administrative measures such as efficiency and cost-effectiveness, about which Canadians may feel they do not know enough to judge. During the course of the years of this tracking research, the extent to which the CRA is perceived as reflecting its key corporate standards has proven to be an important driver of overall attitudes about the Agency. This is most notably the case when it comes to perceptions about efficient operations, honesty, fairness and treating taxpayers with respect.

Date modified:

2010-02-02