delivering benefits

The CRA plays a vital role in providing income security to Canadians. We touch the lives of more Canadians than any other government department or agency by assisting families, low- and moderate-income households, and persons with disabilities. We administer a range of ongoing and one-time programs on behalf of federal, provincial, and territorial governments. By ensuring that benefit recipients have access to timely and accurate information, we help them receive their proper entitlements. In 2011-2012, 99.9% of benefit payments were received on time.

By working on behalf of several levels of government, we reduce duplication and the overall cost of administering benefit programs. We administer 41 payment programs and 81 data exchanges with federal, provincial, and territorial governments.

For example, during 2011-2012, we administered the following programs and services:

• six federal benefit programs, the Canada child tax benefit, children's special allowances, universal child care benefit, goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax credit, the disability tax credit, and working income tax benefit advance payments;
• 25 ongoing benefit programs on behalf of the provinces and territories, including the British Columbia – BC family bonus, New Brunswick child tax benefit, and the Nunavut Child Benefit; and
• several one-time payment credit programs such as the British Columbia climate action dividend and the Ontario sales tax transition benefit.

spending profile

Given the importance of the benefits we deliver to Canadians, our goal is to ensure that eligible benefit recipients receive the right benefit at the right time. We do this by providing information that is timely and easy to understand, and by enabling benefit recipients to self–serve through our online tools or contact us directly through our call centre network. We also validate eligibility information to ensure that we deliver the right amount of benefits and credits to eligible families and individuals across Canada. Our goal of timeliness and accuracy serves as the foundation for measuring our success.

providing information

The CRA's Web site is the primary channel for providing general information and tools to benefit recipients. The site offers information on the different types of benefits and credits available, information on applying online, online calculators, and commonly used forms. For instance, the child and family benefits online calculator gives users an idea of what their benefit amounts will be. We also use an electronic mailing list to notify benefit recipients Footnote 2 when payments will be issued and to remind them of their obligation to notify us when their life situation changes.

self-service

Many benefit recipients prefer to carry out their business with the CRA on a self-service basis, using our secure online portal for individuals, called My Account.

Recipients can manage their benefit information online through My Account by:

• viewing their Canada child tax benefit, universal child care benefit, GST/HST credit, and related provincial and territorial program payments;
• viewing their account balance and statement of account;
• authorizing representatives to act on their behalf;
• arranging for direct deposit; and
• changing their address or marital status.

Our Quick Access service gives individuals immediate access to some of their information in My Account. This service is a popular method for clients to easily access benefit information. This year there were 1,123, 208 visits to Quick Access pages.

Our Automated Benefit Application (ABA) service, introduced three years ago, has eliminated the need for separate applications for credits that the CRA delivers, including federal and provincial or territorial benefits. Six provinces now use this service, with Manitoba joining in July 2011. Through the ABA service, the CRA receives birth information directly from provincial or territorial vital statistics agencies and uses this information to register Canadian newborns for the benefit and credit programs that we administer. The number of applicants using this service continues to grow.

• In 2011-2012, 92.4% of eligible applicants used this online service.

We continue to work with provinces and territories that are not yet using the ABA service to encourage them to do so.

enquiries

The CRA's telephone services provide general information to taxpayers, and also help taxpayers with more complex enquiries. Taxpayers prefer to find general information themselves on our Web site and then call the CRA if they need further explanation or information on how it applies to their specific circumstances.

In 2011-2012:

• through agent and automated services, we answered 6,919,000 enquiries related to the Canada child tax benefit, GST/HST credit, and provincial programs;
• we met our service standard by answering 76% of our Canada child tax benefit telephone enquiries within two minutes; and,
• we exceeded our service standards for accuracy and timeliness in responding to written enquiries and telephone referrals from call centres.

validating eligibility

Canadians count on receiving the right amount of benefits on time, so we strive to ensure that we do not cause hardship by overpaying or underpaying them.

We need accurate and up-to-date information from benefit recipients to calculate entitlements correctly. We regularly review accounts and our processing results to verify the accuracy of payments. In addition to checking information with recipients about marital status, child care situations, and income, we use sophisticated risk assessment tools to determine which accounts should be reviewed. During 2011-2012, we reviewed 171, 832 high-risk accounts and adjusted 62% of them.

We tell individuals how their accounts will be adjusted so they understand how we calculate benefits and what they are entitled to receive.

processing

In 2011-2012, the CRA processed 762,000 applications for a benefit or credit payment and elections to change marital status. We dealt with 756,000 account maintenance adjustments, updating personal information on a benefit recipient's account. We processed 951,000
GST/HSTcredit account redeterminations.

In addition:

• we issued 111 million benefit payments totalling almost $21 billion to approximately 12 million recipients; and
• we issued $915 million in disability tax credits for 587,000 individuals.

Our performance measures for delivering benefits

conclusion

During 2011-2012, we added features to help individuals get quick access to their benefit information. Our work with targeted validation of accounts helped us to ensure entitlements are accurately calculated and to identify outstanding debts. We added services for our government clients, reducing administrative duplication and costs. The results that we achieved during 2011-2012 show that we met our outcome of ensuring that Canadians had access to the benefits and credits they were entitled to, and that related payments were on time and correct.

In 2012-2013, we will continue to improve our online information and interactive services to advance our goal of making it easier for benefit and credit recipients to access information quickly, apply for benefits that they are eligible for, and receive accurate payments.

Footnote 1: This figure represents the actual spending for the CRA on a modified cash basis. Please refer to the following page for an explanation of how this figure relates to the CRA Financial Statements – Agency Activities.

Date modified:

2012-11-08