Our 2006-2007 Results

Achieving Our Benefit Programs Strategic Outcome

Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments

Income security is essential to the economic and social well-being of Canadians. As far back as 1918, the Government of Canada recognized the desirability of providing support to families using the tax system by establishing a deduction for children. With the introduction of a deduction for persons with disabilities in 1944, the Refundable Child Tax Credit in 1978, the Goods and Services Tax Credit program in 1990, and the Child Tax Benefit program in 1993, the CRA became a key contributor to the Government of Canada’s objective of income security and employment for Canadians, through its role as the delivery agent for federal income-based benefits and credits to individuals and families.

In 1996, with the implementation of the BC Family Bonus program, the CRA’s delivery infrastructure was leveraged for the first time to administer benefit programs for provinces and territories. We now administer 17 ongoing child benefit and credit programs on their behalf.

We also deliver one-time payment programs to respond to the immediate priorities of governments, and we support the administration of programs (ranging from student loans to health care initiatives) through the data exchange and data transfer services that we provide for other levels of government.

In 2006, we launched the federal Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) on behalf of Human Resources and Social Development Canada. The UCCB is a monthly payment of $100 for each child under age six who is eligible for the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB), and it is paid to all families.

The complete list of the programs we administer and the services we deliver in support of Canada’s income security system is provided at the end of this chapter on .

Our Focus

Our primary focus is to ensure that Canadians access federal, provincial, and territorial benefits to which they are entitled. Although there is no requirement for parents to apply for child benefits, or for individuals to apply for tax credits, the overwhelming majority of eligible Canadians do access these programs. We provide benefit recipients with information, tools, and services that are accessible through a variety of channels: our telephone service, proactive outreach efforts, and Web sites that provide information and allow benefit recipients to do transactions online.

We believe that recipients will comply with their benefits-related obligations when they are informed about them and clearly understand what they need to do to meet eligibility requirements and receive their entitlements. When recipients give us the information we need, we can determine their eligibility and help ensure that they receive timely and accurate benefit payments--no less and no more.

We facilitate service for other levels of government by combining the provincial or territorial entitlements under ongoing benefit programs (with the exception of the Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit program) with the federal amounts into a single payment. Postage and processing costs that would otherwise have been incurred by issuing the entitlements separately are saved, as are the costs of developing independent administrative systems. By the same token, parents need to file only one application to be considered for income-based child benefits from both levels of government. Individuals need only “tick the box” when they complete their annual tax and benefit return to be considered for sales tax credits offered from both levels of government. In total, of the almost 86 million payments we issued in 2006-2007, 3.4 million combined a provincial/territorial entitlement with a federal entitlement into a single payment, and a further 1.9 million payments were issued for a provincial amount only.

Our data exchange and data transfer services also assist both clients and recipients. The sharing of data--always a limited amount, using File Transfer Protocol methodology[Footnote 1] , and always with taxpayer consent--allows provinces, territories, and other federal government departments to administer their own income-tested benefit and payment programs, such as social assistance, student aid, or extended health benefits. Data sharing not only simplifies the administration of programs, it also minimizes the burden on applicants, since they do not need to contact our offices to get the required information themselves.

Our Influence on Benefit Recipients and Clients

We recognize that the behaviour of benefit recipients is sensitive to many factors. Since they are also taxpayers, they perceive government, society, the economy, legislation, and the fairness of Canada’s benefits systems in a variety of ways. We also recognize that the requirements of clients for new benefit programs or related services are subject to their own determination of priorities or available funding.

In our administration of benefit programs, the CRA has an influence on the behaviour of benefit recipients which, in turn, contributes to the achievement of our strategic outcome. We are aided by federal, provincial, and territorial legislation to clearly identify who is eligible to receive benefits and the amount of their entitlements. We also count on Public Works and Government Services Canada and Canada Post for on-time issuance and delivery of the cheques and crediting of the direct deposits that we have calculated.

Our Strategic Outcome Measures

We measure results against our benefits strategic outcome under three headings that focus on the timeliness of benefit payments, the extent to which recipients meet their obligations to provide us with up-to-date eligibility and account information, and the attractiveness of our program and service delivery infrastructure to federal, provincial, and territorial clients.

Our Benefit Programs Strategic Outcome Measures

Payment timeliness

Benefit payments are correct

Provinces, territories, and other government departments rely on the CRA as a key service provider

Our Measure: Payment timeliness

It is important for the payments we issue to be timely. For some recipients, federal benefit payments make up a substantial portion of their monthly income. Receiving the expected payment on time is an important factor in their ability to meet household expenses. For example, although the CCTB was paid to an estimated 88% of families with children as of June 2006, the maximum annual benefit goes only to those with net income below $20,435. Over 850,000 families--more than 26% of all families receiving the CCTB--received the maximum benefit, which is $6,175 for a two-child family ($514.58 per month). In 2006-2007, 99.99% of the almost 86 million payments we issued were received on time.

Our Measure: Payments are correct

Payments need not only to be timely, they also need to be correct. Just as taxpayers have the obligation to file income tax returns and report their income properly, benefit recipients need to continually provide us with complete and accurate information to maintain their eligibility and permit the accurate calculation of their entitlements. Our indicator of overall benefits compliance measures the percentage of recipients who met their obligations to properly report changes that affect their benefit payments. These include the following:

• changes to marital status;
• address changes;
• changes in family circumstances (e.g., the number of children in care); or
• changes in immigration or residency status.

In 2004-2005 (the benefit year of our most recent study), we estimate that approximately 95.5% of CCTB recipients supplied us with complete and accurate information,[Footnote 2] and received proper entitlements. The accuracy of benefit payments when processing benefit applications and account maintenance adjustments is discussed on .

Our Measure: Provinces, territories, and other government departments rely on the CRA as a key service provider

The CRA does not create the benefit and credit programs it administers or the benefit programs it supports. The CRA is chosen by clients to deliver the programs or services that respond to their priorities or requirements. The proven success of the CRA’s delivery infrastructure is our most important selling point, as we continue our efforts to become the provider of choice for the delivery of benefit programs and benefits-related services for other governments across Canada. Whether we deliver programs on behalf of clients, or support programs that clients administer themselves, ensuring that recipients receive timely and correct benefit payments (or, in some instances, non-monetary benefits provided under provincial or territorial programs we support) is the outcome we aim to achieve.

New Benefit Programs

We continued to attract new business as a program administrator in 2006-2007.

• In July 2006, as previously noted, we began to deliver the Universal Child Care Benefit, under which almost $1.8 billion was issued in nine months to over 1.6 million families.
• In October 2006, we launched the Ontario Home Electricity Relief program, a one-time payment program under which we issued more than $105 million to over 1.5 million recipients on behalf of the province. This is the eighth one-time payment program we have implemented since 2000.

The fact that jurisdictions have opted to use the CRA’s infrastructure to deliver programs on their behalf strongly suggests that the CRA offers important efficiencies in delivering a cash benefit. Two jurisdictions--Nunavut and the Northwest Territories--have specifically noted that integration of territorial benefits with the CCTB reduces duplication and streamlines efficiency.[Footnote 3]

New Benefits-Related Services

We continued to attract new business as a provider of benefits-related services in 2006-2007, adding three new data exchange and data transfer clients:

• Ontario Ministry of Community, Family and Children’s Services (Ontario Works Program);
• Newfoundland Ministry of Health and Community Services (Prescription Drug Program); and
• Nova Scotia Department of Community Services (Pharmacare for Children of Low-Income Families program).

There are now 42 programs using our data exchange and data transfer services: in 2006-2007, we responded to a total of more than 88 million requests for data.

Through our Commissioner’s annual reports to each province and territory, we report to our clients about the work we do on their behalf. In total, we administered 72 different benefits-related programs and services for provinces, territories, and other government departments.

Achievement of Our Expected Results

On the following pages, we interpret our achievements during 2006-2007 against our Benefit Programs expected results. Our two expected results relate to our approach to benefits administration, as it applies to the provision of information and enquiries services; the processing of the applications, elections, and correspondence that ultimately lead to issuance of timely and accurate benefit payments; and the validation of account information to ensure that recipients get the amount to which they are entitled. We further examine how our work in these areas influences the behaviour of benefit recipients and clients.

Our Approach: Service

We believe that the results achieved against our strategic outcome measures demonstrate the willingness of recipients to meet their obligations without our intervention. We believe this willingness is significantly influenced by our commitment to quality service.

Communications tools, including our timely and accessible telephone enquiries service and outreach activities, inform potential recipients about the benefits to which they are entitled and how to access them. They are designed to encourage take-up,[Footnote 4] promote awareness of program requirements, and support overall rates of compliance with benefits-related obligations. It is our assessment that we succeeded in 2006-2007 in providing benefit recipients with timely, accurate, and accessible information. This is demonstrated by the following achievements:

• we met our internal performance targets for the timeliness and accessibility of our telephone enquiries service;
• we were proactive in providing accurate information, through a variety of means, to existing and potential benefit recipients; and
• we provided channels allowing recipients to do various transactions online.

In handling almost 7.7 million benefits-related calls, we recognize that benefit recipients view the telephone as their preferred method of contacting us for general and account-specific benefits information. The recognition of this preference is reflected in the establishment of a new service standard for responding to CCTB telephone enquiries, which is being implemented in 2007-2008 (see page ).

Our most important ongoing outreach vehicle is the CCTB application package, which is intended to be included in the kits that are given to new parents in hospital maternity wards across the country. Our 2006 survey[Footnote 5] of first-time recipients showed the following results (against targets of 90%):

• 93% of respondents agreed that application instructions were easy to understand;
• 89% were satisfied with the information received; and
• 86% were satisfied with the service they received.

We also provide information using a wide variety of other methods (such as mail-out inserts, calendars, fridge magnets, and flyers) to promote awareness of benefit programs and corresponding obligations.

Our accessibility strategy includes reducing recipients’ need to call by promoting the use of other technologies. We have worked hard to improve our Web site as an attractive alternative information channel: our My Account (Benefits) Web site attracted 6.2 million page views in 2006-2007 and the Child and Family Benefits Web page attracted almost 3.7 million page views. We also offer access to Web services that allow benefit recipients to do various transactions online:

• Change My Address--almost 90,000 recipients entered transactions online.
• Children’s Special Allowances on the Web--31.5% of all government agencies or institutions that care for children (covering 60% of children) submit online their changes to care arrangements.

Our results in providing benefit recipients with timely, accurate, and accessible information, including a list of our most important outreach efforts, are described further on .

The CRA has a reputation for strong performance in the timely and accurate processing of benefit applications and elections, and of benefit payments. We also work toward maintaining high levels of overall benefits compliance by assisting recipients, not only through communications and outreach efforts, but also through the efforts of our validation and controls program to detect non-compliance and adjust accounts where necessary. The achievement of this expected result is an important aspect of the Government of Canada’s objective of income security for Canadians. As described in detail beginning on , it is our assessment that we succeeded in meeting this expected result in 2006-2007. This is demonstrated by the following achievements:

• we met our key service standards of 98% for timely processing of benefits-related transactions;
• we met key internal performance targets, processing over 98% of benefits-related transactions accurately;
• we minimized the value of any overpayments that we issued; and
• our key indicators of benefits validation and controls suggest that we have effective criteria for selecting high-risk accounts for review.

Payment Processing

Ensuring timely and correct payments for millions of recipients, based on the accurate determination of program eligibility, takes continuous planning and effort; it is not automatic. Our payment issuance programs are designed with safeguards and checkpoints throughout the systems and processes to contain the risks of delays or interruption, because we know the importance of the payments we make to millions of recipients each month. Changes to our payment processing systems are thoroughly planned, monitored, and tested before implementation. When we successfully attract opportunities, new or revised programs are carefully negotiated with clients to ensure that their requirements can be met without interrupting existing program delivery commitments.

Our Approach: Validation

We believe that the majority of potential recipients apply for benefit programs only when they are likely to qualify. To ensure this is so, however, we pursue a benefits-specific compliance strategy based on education, facilitated compliance, and the maintenance of a credible enforcement presence. Our validation work targets those accounts that have been identified as high-risk for potential overpayments--for example, where we note inconsistencies in reported marital status or other information in our records--to verify that benefits and credits are issued only to recipients who are eligible for them, and that they receive the correct amounts in accordance with applicable legislation.

Conclusion

Based on our achievements this past year in relation to our expected results, we believe that we are providing quality information products and a timely and accessible enquiries service that responds to the needs of benefit recipients. We are also continuing our strong performance in issuing timely and accurate payments based on the correct determination of benefit eligibility. In addition, using our legislative flexibilities as an agency, the programs we deliver and the services we provide serve not only the Government of Canada, but also the provinces and territories.

Results against our strategic outcome measures for Benefit Programs indicate that eligible families and individuals are receiving timely payments, and that they are complying with the obligations to report changes in their circumstances that affect the accurate calculation of benefit payments. Results also indicate that provinces, territories, and a number of other government departments rely on the CRA to administer programs and deliver services that meet their needs. We therefore conclude that the CRA has met its strategic outcome for Benefit Programs in 2006-2007, namely, that eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments.

A detailed discussion of our achievements related to our Benefit Programs activity begins on .

Benefit Programs and Benefit-Related Services Delivered by the CRA

[Footnote 1] This is a secure, two-way, online electronic link.

[Footnote 2] Compliance Levels Exhibited by Recipients of CCTB--Final Report, February 28, 2007 (target population as of November 2004).

[Footnote 3] National Child Benefit (NCB) Progress Report 2005, published February 2007, available at www.nationalchildbenefit.ca

[Footnote 4] The CCTB take-up rate is calculated using census data: results will be available once data from the 2006 census is analyzed.

[Footnote 5] CCTB First-Time Applicants Survey, (September 2006). We are cautious in attributing too much significance to the results due to a low response rate (15%).

Date modified:

2007-11-01