Summary of the Corporate Business Plan 2008-2009 to 2010-2011

As required under the Canada Revenue Agency Act , the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) annually tables a summary of its corporate business plan in Parliament. The summary sets out objectives for a three-year planning period, the strategies the CRA will follow to achieve those objectives, expected performance, and financial projections.

Strategic Themes

As a national organization with an unparalleled program delivery capacity and wide-ranging contact with citizens and businesses, the CRA has established itself as a high-performing organization. Our mandate is to administer tax, benefit and other programs on behalf of the Government of Canada and provincial, territorial and First Nations governments.

To achieve our vision and mandate, the CRA works toward two strategic outcomes.

Tax Services

• Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected.

Benefit Programs

• Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments.

The Summary of the Corporate Business Plan 2008-2009 to 2010-2011 outlines strategies that will allow us to achieve these outcomes.

To guide us during the period covered by this plan, the CRA has defined the following two strategic themes:

• excellence in program delivery, and
• a workplace committed to excellence.

Building on these two interconnected themes, the CRA will ensure greater horizontal integration in developing and implementing the products, services, and systems required for us to serve Canadians.

Strategic Theme: Excellence in Program Delivery

To achieve operational excellence and ensure the integrity and fairness of the Canadian system of tax administration, our focus over the planning period will be on the following:

• strengthening service;
• enhancing our efforts to address non-compliance;
• reinforcing trust; and
• maintaining effective relationships.

Strengthening Service

Given the opportunities, information, and tools, most individuals and businesses will comply with the law. Being transparent and responsive and providing timely and accessible information regarding taxpayers’ obligations are key aspects of a fair revenue administration.

We will implement the CRA Service Strategy, integrating each tax and benefit service we deliver with our compliance strategy.

Over the planning period, we will:

• enhance electronic service offerings;
• target outreach to increase voluntary compliance;
• harmonize the administration of Ontario corporate tax; and
• implement the initiatives of the Action Task Force on Small Business Issues.

Enhancing our Efforts to Address Non-Compliance

Compliance with tax laws is important in terms of keeping Canada’s tax system fair for all and supporting the programs and services that benefit all Canadians. The tax revenue collected each year by the CRA is either given back to taxpayers in the form of benefit payments or tax credits, or is provided to the federal, provincial, territorial and First Nations governments on whose behalf we collect the tax revenue.

Our approach to compliance is dynamic and balanced. We use risk management to identify current as well as emerging compliance risks, and to assess these risks for their potential effect on the revenue base and on compliance in general.

Over the planning period, we will:

• continue to assess and implement compliance strategies to identify and address the most serious cases of non-compliance, protect the revenue base in a cost-effective manner, and focus on aggressive tax planning;
• enhance communications and information sharing;
• work with our international partners; and
• manage tax debt by maximizing tax debt collections, continuing to integrate business processes, and improving our risk profiling capacity.

Reinforcing Trust

To retain the public’s trust, the CRA must ensure that Canada’s tax administration system is both fair and seen to be fair.

Over the planning period, we will:

• maintain high levels of transparency and consistency in dispute resolutions;
• strengthen processes for the administration of taxpayer relief provisions; and
• continue to demonstrate our commitment to targets under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Maintaining Effective Relationships

The CRA has had established relationships with other federal government departments and provincial, territorial, and First Nations governments for many years.

Over the planning period, we will:

• define the Basic Service Offering for agreeing provinces and territories and, where mutually agreed, enhance service levels on a cost-recovery basis; and
• continue to advance our relationships with our partners and clients.

Strategic Theme: Workplace Committed to Excellence

The full potential of the CRA’s commitment to excellence in program delivery can be realized only within a workplace culture that is committed to excellence.

The CRA is responsible for its own human resource regime, and we continue to review our human resource policies, systems, and infrastructure to more effectively support the achievement of our business results.

Over the planning period, we will:

• create the conditions for success by encouraging innovative work practices and promoting a culture of achievement;
• ensure a work environment that respects diversity and our core values;
• develop and implement a human resources plan that is fully integrated with business planning;
• recruit strategically; and
• complete the implementation of competency-based human resource management regime.

CRA Staffing Principles

In addition to information on the CRA’s objectives and strategies, the Canada Revenue Agency Act requires that a statement of our staffing principles be published in the Summary of the Corporate Business Plan.

Strategic Planning and Reporting Framework

Date modified:

2008-03-31