ARCHIVED - RPP 2007-2008
Canada Revenue Agency

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The Honourable Carol Skelton, P.C., M.P
Minister of National Revenue

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Introductory

Message from the Minister

Foreword by the Chair

Management Representation

Executive Summary

Chapter 1 – Meeting Our Mandate

Chapter 2 – Our Operating Environment

Chapter 3 – Moving Forward With the Agency’s Strategic Themes

Chapter 4 – Achieving Our Strategic Outcomes

Chapter 5 – Program Activities

• Overview
• Taxpayer and Business Assistance (PA1)
• Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing (PA2)
• Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance (PA3)
• Reporting Compliance (PA4)
• Appeals (PA5)
• Benefit Programs (PA6)
• Corporate Services (PA7)

Chapter 6 – Agency Governance and the Board of Management

Conclusion by the Commissioner

Appendix A  – Board of Management

Appendix B  – Organizational Structure

Appendix C  – Financial Tables

Appendix D  – Service Standards

Appendix E  – Sustainable Development Strategy

Appendix F  – Glossary

 

Introductory

Mission

To administer tax, benefits, and related programs and ensure compliance on behalf of governments across Canada, thereby contributing to the ongoing economic and social well-being of Canadians

Vision

The Canada Revenue Agency will be the preferred provider to deliver tax, benefits and related programs for governments across Canada

Values

• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Respect
• Co-operation

Message from the Minister

The 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities comes at a time when Canada’s economy is strong and its economic forecast should remain attractive for the foreseeable future. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been at the forefront of many recent government changes aimed at lessening the tax burden and increasing benefits for Canadians. The Government’s long-term economic plan, Advantage Canada, continues the emphasis on tax reduction, which will help Canada gain a global competitive advantage.

Over the coming years, the CRA will need to focus on those qualities which have distinguished it since becoming an agency: being responsible in its spending, efficient in its operations, effective in its results, and accountable to taxpayers. For this reason—in addition to its essential contribution to administering tax and benefit programs for Canadians—the CRA is investing in new partnerships with other government organizations to increase efficiencies in administration and continue to reduce the overall cost of tax administration in Canada. For example, by 2009-2010, the Agency will have fully harmonized the administration of Ontario’s corporate taxes with the CRA’s national system, a move that will significantly reduce the administrative tax burden for about 40% of Canadian corporations.

Maintaining the confidence of Canadians in the fairness and integrity of our system of tax administration will always be essential to the success of the CRA in managing changes to tax and benefit programs for Parliament and the Agency’s many clients. We earn Canadians’ trust through our emphasis on excellence in service, protection of information, clarity in the way we account for our performance, and impartiality in our dealings with taxpayers and benefit recipients.

 

The Honourable Carol Skelton, P.C., M.P.
Minister of National Revenue

Foreword by the Chair

This Report on Plans and Priorities guides the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) over the next three years as it invests in, works toward, delivers, and reports on the strategic outcomes identified in its mandate. These are: that taxpayers meet their obligations, that Canada’s revenue base is protected, and that eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments.

The successful realization of these outcomes will rely, in part, on the fundamental role played by the CRA Board of Management as it advises on these high-level strategic outcomes, while at the same time overseeing the administration of the CRA, including the stewardship of financial and other resources. The five-year review by Parliament has confirmed that the Agency’s mandate and governance structure are successful and financial accountabilities are robust.

The “Agency Governance and the Board of Management” chapter of this report marks the first time that the CRA’s Report on Plans and Priorities has included a section focused on the Board. This chapter provides a vehicle to publicly discuss what we are doing as a Board and it reflects the Board’s increasingly important role as the Agency takes full advantage of its legislated authorities and flexibilities.

While its main focus is on the administration of the CRA, the Board constantly examines its own role and operations, adopting and adapting recognized best practices in governance to ensure that the Board functions in an effective manner that successfully supports the CRA’s strategic objectives and program operations.

The CRA is pursuing a corporate vision to become the preferred provider to deliver tax, benefits, and related programs for governments across Canada, and it is my privilege to be part of the dedicated group of people committed to that goal.

 

Connie I. Roveto, ICD.D
Chair, Board of Management

Management Representation

We submit for tabling in Parliament, the 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

This document has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide for the Preparation of Part III of the 2007-2008 Estimates: Report on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports:

• It adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat guidance;
• It is based on the Agency’s strategic outcome(s) and Program Activity Architecture that were approved by the Treasury Board;
• It presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced and reliable information;
• It provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to it; and
• It reports finances based on approved, planned spending numbers from the Treasury Board Secretariat.

 

Michel Dorais, ICD.D
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
Canada Revenue Agency

 

William V. Baker
Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer
Canada Revenue Agency

Executive Summary

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has established a reputation for achieving solid results. The 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities outlines the strategies to build on these results, while continuing to direct the CRA along the path set out for it by Parliament in the Canada Revenue Agency Act.

Pursuant to its mandate, the CRA is governed by two strategic outcomes:

• Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected;
• Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments.

Continuing with the implementation of our Agency 2010 vision which was set out in last year’s Report on Plans and Priorities, we recognize that the success of the Agency depends on our ability to sustain and enhance the effectiveness of our core business and to pursue new business.

The Government of Canada signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Government of Ontario, under which the CRA will administer Ontario’s corporate taxes in 2009. We established a CRA governance structure to oversee the project implementation and guide the negotiations of the various agreements required between the CRA and Ontario.

Tax Services

It is our view that, if we make it easier for taxpayers to deal with the CRA, taxpayers are more likely to comply with Canada’s tax laws.

Our tax strategic outcome will be achieved by:

• continuing to enhance rights and service delivery;
• maximizing tax debt collections;
• identifying and addressing specific compliance challenges;
• enhancing trust in tax administration; and
• enhancing business arrangements with clients.

Benefit Programs

Our benefits strategic outcome will be achieved by:

• enhancing electronic services for benefit recipients;
• continuing to issue timely benefit payments;
• strengthening benefits compliance; and
• fostering growth in programs and services administered for clients.

Corporate Administration

Excellence in corporate services is necessary in order for us to achieve the expected results. In support of our two strategic outcomes, we will focus on the following areas:

• strengthening the CRA infrastructure and, in particular, risk management and strategic investments in technology; and
• maturing accountability practices in our unique governance regime.

Conclusion

Canadians have the right to expect a high degree of integrity in the administration of government tax policies and benefit programs. They want a system that is fair and responsive to their needs; a system that encourages all taxpayers to respect their obligations and that ensures benefit recipients obtain their entitlements in a timely and accurate manner. The report set out by the Canada Revenue Agency moves forward to achieve these goals. We are investing in our infrastructure to further enhance our efficiency and reduce government cost for Canadians; we are modernizing our service delivery to take advantage of emerging technology; we are actively identifying compliance risks and implementing strategies to address these risks, and we are continuing to develop a knowledgeable, professional and value-driven workforce.

The Canada Revenue Agency is also strengthening its performance measures and service standards to improve accountability. We are confident that the CRA will continue to meet its challenges, delivering concrete results for Canadians with professionalism, integrity, respect and cooperation.

 

Chapter 1 – Meeting Our Mandate

Agency Mandate

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has the mandate to administer tax, benefit and other programs on behalf of the Government of Canada and provincial, territorial and First Nations governments.

Parliament created the CRA so we could meet the mandate by:

• providing better service to Canadians;
• offering more efficient and more effective delivery of government programs; and
• fostering closer relationships with provinces and other levels of government for which the CRA delivers programs, and providing better accountability.

The CRA’s mandate reflects the broad role that the Agency plays in the lives of Canadians. The CRA contributes to two of the Government of Canada’s Strategic Outcomes: Federal organizations that support all departments and agencies and Income Security and Employment for Canadians.

In December 2006, the Parliamentary Review of the CRA’s effectiveness as an Agency in meeting its mandate since 1999 was released. The report highlights some of the CRA’s successes and makes a number of recommendations. Over the course of the planning period, the CRA will respond to the recommendations and take steps to implement them appropriately.

A Strategic Perspective

Since becoming an agency in 1999, the CRA has placed an increasing emphasis on results-based management in order to ensure accountability for results. The Financial Administration Act requires us to produce a report on plans and priorities that states our corporate objectives, strategies to achieve those objectives and our expected performance.

We measure the results of our performance in administering tax and benefit programs against the CRA’s strategic outcomes (see the discussion starting on ). We also measure our performance at the program activity level, which provides an effective view of how our performance in specific activities affects the achievement of our strategic outcomes.

With this Report on Plans and Priorities, we are committing to develop a suite of indicators that will provide a high-level, strategic view of the context in which we work to meet our mandate.

We recognize that our success in providing service to government clients and Canadians is more than just the sum of our individual activities. Agency indicators situate CRA results in relation to Canadians’ expectations, Canada’s economic performance, and the contribution we make in conjunction with and on behalf of other governments throughout the country in maintaining Canada’s social and economic well-being.

It is important to recognize that the CRA cannot attribute overall results solely to its own activities. Our results are influenced by many external economic and legislative factors over which we have no control. As Canada’s principal revenue collector, we play a strong role in bettering the quality of life in Canada, but we also look to Canadians, to our partners and to other stakeholders for the role they play in safeguarding Canada’s social and economic well-being.

Agency Indicators

The value of the Agency indicators we are developing will be in analyzing and understanding trends, rather than in meeting specific targets. Trends provide the contextual information that will allow CRA management to assess changes in our operating environment, to analyze the risks and opportunities related to those changes, and to consider the potential impact on the CRA’s activities and performance.

Agency indicators will be presented according to five general categories: efficiency, effectiveness, service satisfaction, clients, and workforce satisfaction. These categories reflect key aspects of our mandate. Examples of proposed indicators, which are still under development, include a perspective on:

• the efficiency of our major activities by examining the costs for T1, T2, GST returns, and benefit payments; and
• the level of satisfaction expressed by taxpayers and benefit recipients, based on an index of key elements of the annual CRA Corporate Survey.

 

Chapter 2 – Our Operating Environment

As part of our strategic planning process, we conduct regular environmental scans, and assess corporate risks to identify and manage key challenges and opportunities. With representatives from across Canada, our Board of Management brings a broad public- and private-sector perspective to this process. This chapter addresses key risks and challenges in our operating environment.

Government Environment

The government’s long-term economic plan, entitled Advantage Canada, identified five areas for improvements. The first of these areas is reducing taxes for Canadians. Areas under review include a deferral of taxes on capital gains that are reinvested, and other additional reductions in personal and corporate income tax.

Focusing government is one of the core principles of Advantage Canada. All new and existing government programs will be subject to ongoing reviews through the revamped expenditure management system.

The Economy

Canada’s economy is expected to continue to perform reasonably well in the foreseeable future. There has been a solid 2% growth in employment and wages are ahead of inflation. The Bank of Canada expects the growth in the GDP to be 2.5% in 2007 and 2.8% in 2008. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projections show Canada’s GDP at 2.7% in 2007 and 3.1% in 2008.

The overall financial climate is reflected in the statistics for tax revenues. Net individual and trust taxes assessed over the past three years have climbed from $93.1 billion to $103.8 billion. Over the same period, corporate taxes climbed from $27.4 billion to $31.7 billion. Pre-tax corporate profits are expected to remain healthy in 2007. Looking forward, in his November 2006 Economic and Fiscal Update, the Minister of Finance projected that total tax revenues would climb from $186 billion in 2005-2006 to $235 billion in 2011-2012.

Compliance Challenges

The evolving international economy, increasing business integration across borders, electronic commerce and changing demographics are examples of the many factors that present compliance challenges to the CRA. The CRA’s risk-assessment systems and procedures enable us to target compliance and enforcement activities toward the areas of highest risk, and to shift resources to these areas.

The Agency continues to address the four areas determined to be of greatest risk to our tax base: the underground economy; aggressive tax planning; GST/HST fraud; and non-filers, non-registrants and collections. Recent government announcements of plans to address tax havens, combined with the government’s focus on maximizing tax debt collections, confirm that these are key areas to address. This report identifies the steps that the Agency will take to address these risks to compliance.

Trust, Transparency and Accountability

The Agency works hard to maintain Canadians’ trust in the CRA, placing continued emphasis on our four corporate values. The CRA continues to have a positive image with Canadians, largely because the Agency is seen as operating consistently with its corporate values. According to the CRA’s 2006 Annual Corporate Survey, about 85% of respondents agreed that “the CRA treats taxpayer information with complete confidentiality.”

Strengthening its accountability to all client governments is a key element in the CRA’s Agency 2010 initiative. The effective implementation of the recently announced agreement with the Province of Ontario to administer Ontario’s corporate tax is a key challenge for this planning period.

Demographic Trends

According to a 2005 Statistics Canada Study, it is projected that, within 10 years, visible minorities will constitute the majority of the population of Canada’s three largest cities. Since self-assessment is at the core of our tax system, the CRA must be able to communicate effectively with new Canadians who may be unfamiliar with our tax and benefit systems. The CRA must also deal with the effects that our aging population has on tax sectors (e.g. the shift from employee to pension recipient status).

Internally, the CRA needs to ensure that professional skills are in place in critical areas. We must compete vigorously with the private sector to attract the most talented workers. Supported by focused investments, the CRA will offer staff more rewarding work, as the balance of jobs shifts from traditional activities to work requiring more technical, analytical and client relationship competencies. This is in line with the government-wide strategy to ensure that the public service is renewed, innovative and dynamic, and that it reflects Canadian diversity.

Technological Change

Canadians demand electronic service options that are fast, efficient and convenient, and that protect the privacy of confidential information. The effective implementation of technology offers the opportunity to improve service and increase productivity. The CRA is a leader in government in using information technology (IT).

Our key challenge is to maintain the right balance of effort and investment between addressing existing program commitments and creating additional capacity. Our strategies must enhance the continuity of IT services, modernize security, and facilitate information and knowledge management. For those Canadians who do not have a computer, we will continue to offer traditional forms of service. IT solutions will demand new skill sets in the CRA workplace, and the resulting impact on training and staffing must be managed carefully to maintain and enhance the strategic advantage that technology provides to this organization.

 

Chapter 3 – Moving Forward With the Agency’s Strategic Themes

In its most recent report on plans and priorities, the CRA set a suite of three strategic themes through which it will further pursue its key objectives:

• providing better service to Canadians;
• offering more efficient and effective delivery of government programs; and
• fostering closer working relationships with and better accountability to its clients (federal, provincial, territorial and First Nations government organizations).

Summary of the Strategic Themes

Theme One: Building a Strong and Modern Core Business

The Agency’s focus is its core tax, benefits and revenue business. Agency 2010 recognizes that the Agency’s continuing success depends on its ability to sustain and enhance the effectiveness of its core business capabilities. To promote a stronger, modernized core business, the Agency is further strengthening its program integrity with an efficient and effective high-volume processing capacity and IT infrastructure, and a skilled workforce. Key strategies for meeting ongoing challenges are outlined in Chapter 4 Achieving Our Strategic Outcomes.

Expected Result and Key Activities

Expected result: A well-defined and high-performance business capacity capable of responding effectively to change. To achieve this result, the Agency will

• promote productivity, efficiency and effectiveness gains on an ongoing basis in the Agency’s core business by undertaking a review of business processes and geography of work;
• ensure that the Agency has the capacity to deliver high-quality, effective and cost-efficient programs and services through investing strategically in required systems and technology, based on improved business cases and selection criteria;
• continue to analyze and address compliance risks;
• align service delivery to respond to taxpayers’ and benefit recipients’ needs through the development of a CRA service strategy; and
• invest in the skills and development of the Agency’s workforce and in a strong management cadre, by providing training, and promoting continuous development, effective recruitment, and the retention of quality employees.

Theme Two: Maturing the Governance Model

The Agency will further develop its unique governance model to strengthen planning and decision making at all levels and to ensure alignment of resources with priorities. Accountability to Parliament and the Agency’s government clients will be improved through an enhanced focus on reporting and responsiveness to needs.

Expected Result and Key Activities

Expected result: A governance model that enhances accountability, rigour and effective management practices. To achieve this result, the Agency will:

• improve the accountability framework by developing Agency success measures and a management oversight framework that will allow the Board of Management to annually review the Agency’s management strengths and suggest areas for improvement; and
• enhance accountability and reporting to clients by developing service arrangements and annual work plans, designating a point of client contact with the appointment of account executives, and improving annual reports to the provinces and territories by strengthening linkages with other CRA reporting documents.

Theme Three: Pursuing New Business Opportunities

Consistent with its objectives, the CRA is committed to seeking opportunities to increase the number of tax and benefit programs that it administers on behalf of federal, provincial and territorial clients. Such action would have direct benefits for Canadians, businesses and governments. It would provide a better service interface because individuals and businesses would be able to contact only one organization, the CRA, about a number of government programs. It would reduce the compliance burden because the CRA would be able to integrate information requirements and follow-on activity. Further, it would reduce the cost of administration for governments by eliminating the duplication of activities and achieving economies of scale.

As part of its ongoing process of identifying possible new business opportunities, the CRA regularly consults with other departments and agencies to ensure they support the direction the CRA is considering. These consultations also provide an opportunity for departments and agencies to explore other services or functions the Agency could perform on their behalf.

However, new business will be assumed only when it can be accommodated with current core business services and in consultation with the Department of Finance Canada, where appropriate. Before accepting new business opportunities, the CRA will take a number of factors into consideration: the capacity of the Agency’s service delivery platform, IT systems and workforce; the value for the Agency of increased productivity, better service or improved compliance; and the achievement of positive public policy outcomes.

Expected Result and Key Activities

Expected result: A simpler, more integrated tax and benefit administration at lower total cost for governments across Canada. To achieve this result, the Agency will

• implement the agreement to administer Ontario’s corporate taxes;
• seek and implement other opportunities where there are public policy benefits; and
• improve communication about business development to the Agency’s clients and stakeholders, through a communications strategy and various business development promotions that articulate the Agency’s strengths and values as a delivery agent and partner.

 

Chapter 4 – Achieving Our Strategic Outcomes

Introduction

Through our Canada-wide network and distributed processing operations, the CRA delivers tax services and benefit programs on behalf of the Government of Canada, provincial and territorial governments, and certain First Nations. The CRA’s mandate sets out two strategic outcomes:

• Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected;
• Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments.

These strategic outcomes govern the priorities we pursue and the investments we make to support those priorities.

Our Strategic Planning and Reporting Framework (see ) is the foundation of the 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities. This framework links our strategic outcome measures to our two strategic outcomes, and identifies the expected results for the program activities that support these outcomes.

The Agency 2010 vision will guide us during the period covered by this report. Two themes of Agency 2010 shape the strategies we will pursue to achieve our strategic outcomes:

• strong and modern core business
• expanded business opportunities.

Strong and Modern Core Business

The core business of the CRA is tax administration, revenue collection and benefits administration. This is where our expertise lies and where we will focus our attention to identify opportunities for building our programs and services. Effective compliance and service delivery are key elements to the core business. Over the planning period, the CRA will continue to strive for excellence in service delivery and compliance. For example, for the first time we are introducing two new external service standards related to accuracy of information (Benefit Programs), as well as a standard for responding to taxpayer requested adjustments via the Internet (for new service standards, see Appendix D).

In addition, we believe that taxpayers’ compliance behaviour is influenced by their trust in the integrity and fairness of the tax administration system. We will therefore continue to improve our service and compliance programs, and administer them according to our values, to maintain the integrity and fairness of the tax system.

Expanded Business Opportunities

Our flexibilities as an agency and the adaptability of our systems enable us to use our federal delivery infrastructure to administer a range of programs and other services on behalf of clients. Throughout Canada, our approach is consistent on matters such as compliance activities, service standards, workflows and program administration. This approach instills confidence for clients that their programs will be administered efficiently and according to their expectations.

Over the planning period, we will maintain current programs and services administered for provinces, territories and other government departments, and look for potential efficiencies for clients.

The following pages provide more details about the strategies we will pursue to support the two main themes. Details about the specific approaches to these strategies, as well as the key initiatives we will undertake, are provided in Chapter 5 (which begins on ), where we describe our plans for each of our program activities.

Strategic Planning and Reporting Framework

The efforts of the CRA contribute to two of the Government of Canada’s Strategic Outcomes: Federal organizations that support all departments and agencies and Income security and Employment for Canadians.

Further information on these outcomes can be found at www.tbs-sct.gc.ca

Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

Agency Link to the Government of Canada Outcomes

Tax Services: Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected

Overview

We rely on the government’s revenue base to provide funding toward social and economic objectives. The CRA’s primary focus is to maintain the integrity of the administration of Canada’s tax system by delivering a wide range of programs to ensure that Canadians meet their tax obligations and, in so doing, help protect Canada’s revenue base.

Our five tax-related program activities are listed in our Strategic Planning and Reporting Framework (see ), along with their respective expected results. These program activities support the achievement of the tax services strategic outcome, by helping to ensure that taxpayers and businesses receive accurate information and assistance, in order for them to understand their rights and obligations. Our program activities identify instances when any of these obligations are not met, and they deter and correct non-compliance. Where taxpayers decide to exercise their right to a formal review of their file, the Appeals program activity conducts a formal and impartial review. Details describing our plans to strengthen tax services core business are provided on pages to .

Our Areas of Focus

In order to ensure the integrity and fairness of the Canadian system of tax administration, and to address areas of risk critical to strengthening our core business and fostering our ability to expand business opportunities, over the planning period we will focus on:

• continuing to enhance rights and service delivery for taxpayers;
• maximizing tax debt collections;
• addressing specific compliance challenges;
• enhancing trust in Canada’s tax administration; and
• enhancing partnerships with our clients.

Enhancing Service Delivery

We believe that, given the right opportunities, information and tools, most individuals and businesses will comply with the law. The open, responsive, timely and accessible nature of information on a taxpayer’s obligations is a key aspect of a fair revenue administration. It is our aim to make available current and accurate information in a manner that is best suited to the needs, abilities and preferences of taxpayers, thereby positively influencing compliance.

Over the planning period, we will enhance service delivery by:

• reducing the compliance and paperwork burden on small business, simplifying, improving, and, where appropriate, reducing the frequency of small business interactions with the CRA;
• encouraging the take-up of our electronic services;
• adding new services to our Web channel;
• building on our electronic services infrastructure; and
• continuing to develop innovative electronic initiatives to be more effective.

Descriptions of the specific initiatives that we will undertake in response to service program priorities are provided in Chapter 5, which begins on .

Maximizing Tax Debt Collections

A key measure that we use to evaluate our success in protecting Canada’s revenue base is taxpayers’ compliance with their remittance obligations. It is our aim to ensure that assessed and collectible taxes are paid in a timely manner.

To maximize revenue collection and revenue generation over the planning period, we will undertake the following:

• integrate business processes, and improve our risk profiling capability regarding accounts subject to our tax debt activities; and
• implement integrated and effective risk profiling and scoring for all debt types, as well as the integration of business processes.

Additional details concerning our plans to maximize tax debt collections and mitigate risk of loss are provided beginning on in our Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance (PA3) program activity.

Addressing Non-Compliance

Over the 2007-2008 planning period, we will continue to pursue the compliance priorities identified in the previous report on plans and priorities: aggressive tax planning, the underground economy, GST/HST fraud, non-filers, non-registrants and collections.

In addition, we will increase our focus on compliance issues related to international commerce through the following approaches:

• focusing on high-risk taxpayers and intermediaries who develop and promote aggressive international tax planning schemes;
• using communications strategically to increase awareness of CRA compliance activities to deter international non-compliance;
• working in collaboration with the Department of Finance Canada in developing enhanced policy and legislative change proposals to target international non-compliance; and
• strengthening our relationships with other tax administrations and organizations, such as the OECD and the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators.

We will also increase our focus on interprovincial compliance issues. Specifically, we will

• develop strategies to address profit shifting and provincial tax avoidance; and
• work to address concerns about provincial income allocation, to ensure that our clients receive the tax revenue derived from the economic activity undertaken in their jurisdictions.

Specific program priorities for addressing these items are discussed in our Reporting Compliance (PA4) program activity section, beginning on .

Enhancing Trust

Our ability to protect Canada’s revenue base can be affected by the public’s confidence in the firmness and fairness of the overall tax administration system and Canadians’ trust in the integrity of the CRA. To earn and retain the trust of Canadians requires a tax administration that is both fair and seen to be fair.

Keeping personal information secure is also key to maintaining the trust of Canadians. The Agency’s rigorous IT and administrative security programs will ensure that their information is protected.

Enhancing Partnerships

The CRA has established partnerships with other federal government departments, provinces, territories and First Nations governments for many years. We believe that our strengths and competitive advantages increase the effectiveness and efficiency of tax administration and revenue collection for all levels of government in Canada. In addition, taxpayers—especially businesses—find it much more effective to deal with a single administration for their tax issues.

For these reasons, enhancing our partnerships is a key focus over the planning period. The CRA will undertake the following:

• complete the implementation of our agreement with the Government of Ontario to design and implement a single corporate income tax;
• continue to work toward creating new opportunities for partnerships with interested provinces, territories, First Nations governments, and other federal government departments and agencies to reduce duplication and enable single-window delivery of services; and
• improve the scope and quality of current partnerships with other federal departments and provincial and territorial governments.

Specific steps to be taken in this regard are discussed throughout the program activity sections related to tax services (PA1 to PA5), on pages to .

Strategic Outcome Measures—Tax Services

We estimate the rates of compliance in a number of areas to assess whether or not taxpayers are meeting their obligations, and to identify potential compliance issues. Compliance measures are grouped under four headings that equate to the following broad categories of taxpayer obligations.

• Filing compliance measures estimate the proportion of taxpayers who file their returns on time.
• Our registration compliance measure estimates the proportion of Canadian businesses that have registered, as required by law, to collect GST/HST.
• Remittance compliance measures estimate the proportion of taxpayers who paid amounts due on time.
• Reporting compliance measures contribute to our assessment of the degree to which taxpayers report complete and accurate information to allow for the determination of their liability for tax.

We have also identified a strategic measure intended to gauge our achievements as a key service provider for clients.

Recent results reported against some of our key compliance rate measures have indicated specific areas where compliance rates have not met our expectations. We believe that focusing over the planning period on the key areas described earlier will have a positive influence on the recent slight downward trends in the following key measures:

• timeliness of the filing of income tax returns by taxable corporations;
• timeliness of remittances by employers and taxable corporations; and
• levels of individuals’ claims for key deductions and credits not subject to third-party reporting.

In addition, we will develop strategic outcome measures for both registered charities and registered plans over the planning period, in order to gauge our success in administering both of these very important sectors of Canada’s economy.

Benefit Programs: Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments

Overview

The CRA supports the efforts of federal, provincial and territorial governments to assist families and children, low- and moderate-income households, and persons with disabilities. We do this by providing Canadians with benefits, credits and other services that contribute directly to their economic and social well-being.

In addition, our flexibilities as an agency and the adaptability of our systems enable us to leverage our federal delivery infrastructure to administer a range of ongoing and one-time programs on behalf of the provinces, territories and other government departments, and provide information, as authorized by law, to support programs administered by provinces, territories and other government departments.

Our Benefit Programs program activity, and the related expected results, are included in our Strategic Planning and Reporting Framework (see ). This program activity supports the achievement of the Benefit Programs strategic outcome by helping to ensure that recipients are informed about our programs, that they clearly understand what they need to do to meet eligibility requirements and receive their entitlements, and that they understand their obligations when their family circumstances change. When our efforts are successful, eligible recipients can count on receiving the right benefit at the right time, and on knowing where the benefit came from and why.

Our Areas of Focus

To strengthen our core business and foster our ability to expand business opportunities, over the planning period we will focus on the following approaches:

• enhancing electronic services for benefit recipients;
• maintaining strong performance in the timely issuance of millions of benefit payments;
• ensuring that only those who are entitled receive benefits, through strengthened benefits compliance; and
• maintaining the current programs and services administered for provinces, territories and other government departments, and fostering business growth.

Enhancing Electronic Services

We believe that, when benefit recipients are given the right information, tools and services, accessible through a variety of channels, they will be able to provide us with the information we need to register them and maintain complete and accurate benefit account information, thereby positively influencing program awareness, take-up and overall rates of benefits compliance.

Over the planning period, we will enhance electronic services by:

• adding new features to My Account, particularly for the Disability Tax Credit, and promoting take-up; and
• implementing a facility for online benefits applications.

Timely Benefit Payments

Ensuring timely payments for millions of recipients, based on the accurate determination of program eligibility, takes continuous planning and effort; it is not automatic. Changes to our systems, which are required annually, are thoroughly planned, monitored and tested before implementation. Our processes are designed with safeguards and checkpoints to contain the risks of delays or interruption. New or revised programs are carefully negotiated with program owners to ensure that their requirements can be achieved without interrupting existing program delivery commitments.

To maintain strong performance in the timely issuance of benefit payments, we will continue the multi-year effort of reassessing our core payment processing system and our Individual Identification System to ensure that they retain the capacity to deliver high quality programs.

Accurate Benefit Payments by Strengthening Compliance

We need to ensure that the benefits and credits we issue are correct and that eligible recipients receive the proper entitlement—no more and no less—based on complete and accurate payment and account information, in accordance with applicable legislation.

To positively influence and maintain existing high levels of benefits compliance, we will undertake the following over the planning period:

• continue to implement key elements of the Compliance Strategy for Benefits, in order to ensure program integrity; and
• develop methodologies to measure overall compliance for the GST/HST credit program.

Business Growth

We believe that our strong federal benefit delivery infrastructure, which makes use of adaptable automated systems, enables the CRA to attract a range of programs and a variety of services that we can provide for provinces, territories and other government departments. Our objectives in doing so are to lower the overall cost of benefit program administration for all levels of government while maintaining high quality and secure service to benefit recipients.

Provinces, territories and other federal government departments also depend on CRA data exchanges and data transfers to support their own income-tested benefit and payment programs. Sharing of a limited amount of data, done with taxpayer consent or as authorized by law, simplifies the administration of programs and minimizes the burden on applicants.

To improve benefits administration for all levels of government, we will undertake the following:

• continue to use our unique technology and national benefit delivery infrastructure (our competitive advantage as a service provider) to deliver new programs, where feasible; and
• expand data exchange services using file transfer protocol (FTP) methodology, where feasible.

Details beginning on in our Benefit Programs (PA6) program activity describe our specific plans over the next three years.

Strategic Outcome Measures—Benefit Programs

Our strategic outcome for Benefit Programs, and the measures we employ to evaluate our success, focus on the timeliness and accuracy of the payments we issue, as well as on the number of programs and services we deliver on behalf of clients. We expect the results we achieve to influence program enrolment and awareness among eligible recipients, maintain timely and accurate payments, and enhance the contribution we make to clients as a key program administrator and service provider.

 

Chapter 5 – Program Activities

Overview

This chapter is based on the Program Activity Architecture (PAA) developed by the CRA with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. The PAA provides a structure for organizing, integrating, and presenting plans, budgets and performance measures.

The Strategic Planning and Reporting Framework on links program activities and expected results, according to the PAA.

The chapter is organized according to our two strategic outcomes and the seven program activities (PAs) that support them:

• Tax Services
  • Taxpayer and Business Assistance (PA1)
  • Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing (PA2)
  • Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance (PA3)
  • Reporting Compliance (PA4)
  • Appeals (PA5)
• Benefit Programs (PA6)
• Corporate Services (PA7)

For program activities 1 to 6, we present planned spending, an overview of the program, the approaches planned to advance the program and the priority initiatives for the planning period. We group together initiatives supporting core business and other initiatives reflecting new business opportunities.

Each section concludes with a table of deliverables for the planning period, as well as performance indicators and targets that measure the program activity’s expected results. These targets identify the percentage or degree of expected attainment of a performance level. Targets are established by program managers through analysis of operational realities and infrastructure, historical performance, the complexity of the work involved, and the expectations of Canadians.

The Corporate Services section covers infrastructure activities (e.g. information technology, financial management and human resource administration) where enhancements support both a strong core business and capacity changes implicit in Agency 2010. Initiatives to mature the governance regime are also outlined in this section. As with last year’s plan, Corporate Services expenses have been proportionately allocated among the six core tax and benefit program activities.

Taxpayer and Business Assistance (PA1)

Program Overview

The Taxpayer and Business Assistance program activity is responsible for providing tools, assistance and information that facilitate voluntary compliance with tax obligations. We undertake this work through several Call Centres and 46 Tax Services Offices (including the International Tax Services Office). We also supply taxpayers, businesses and registrants with rulings on legislative policy, and procedural entitlements and obligations in accordance with relevant federal and provincial/territorial legislation.

Enquiries and Information Services assists individuals and businesses in meeting their obligations under tax legislation by providing information, education and outreach services, and by responding to enquiries.

Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs assists taxpayers in meeting their obligations by providing income and commodity tax rulings and interpretations; Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance Act rulings; and services relating to the registration and audit of pensions, other deferred income plans and charities; and by administering duty programs for certain commodities and certain provisions of the softwood lumber agreement.

Enquiries and Information Services and Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs are distinct sub-activities, and are discussed separately under this program activity.

Program Resources

Program Strategies—Enquiries and Information Services

The CRA continues to focus on improving the quality of our services to make them simpler and easier to use, and thus facilitate compliance. We continually enhance and modernize our services to strengthen our core business of protecting Canada’s revenue base, by building on our position as an innovative service leader.

During the current planning period, our strategy for service enhancement will undertake the following:

• continue to realign our service options and information toward an approach centred on taxpayers or businesses, offering tools and information tailored to their needs;
• reduce costs by encouraging the increased use of self-service options through targeted outreach and educational programs to promote the use of assisted self-service and, at the same time, offering in-person service by appointment;
• foster a dynamic and flexible workforce with new strategies that respond in a taxpayer- or business-centred manner to changing and increasingly complex enquiries and concerns and, by using increased self-service options and program integration, enhance CRA agents’ ability to respond to more complex issues;
• provide interactive e-learning and online integrated reference tools to assist CRA agents;
• include feedback from taxpayers, businesses and their agents in our analysis and research results to support decisions on our Web site design;
• address changing demographics, economic trends, and national and local compliance issues through outreach programs that are fine-tuned, through a research-based approach, to meet the particular needs of specific taxpayer or business groups, such as seniors, new Canadians, existing ethno-cultural communities, students, and small and medium-sized enterprises;
• expand consultation and feedback in order to continually evaluate taxpayer, business and stakeholder needs and expectations; and
• ensure date stamping of documents hand delivered to CRA tax services offices.

The CRA will pursue partnerships with other service organizations at the federal, provincial, territorial and First Nations levels, and will expand the CRA’s business opportunities, providing more integrated services to Canadians where it makes sense to do so. In so doing, we will strengthen and enhance our technology/infrastructure across channels, which will support an integrated, taxpayer- or business-centred service approach and give us more flexibility to link to other organizations, programs and levels of government, providing services on their behalf.

Priority Initiatives—Enquiries and Information Services

Measures—Enquiries and Information Services

Program Overview—Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs

For taxpayers, our Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs sub-activity publishes advance income tax rulings relating to the tax consequences of proposed transactions, as well as technical interpretations of income tax law. Our GST/HST rulings area provides taxpayers with an official interpretation of or ruling on Part IX of the Excise Tax Act in writing, by telephone or in person, and through various technical publications.

Our registered plans area registers and monitors pension and other deferred income plans, while our charities function administers the national registration program for charities. The charities program’s overriding objective is to improve compliance through strategic enhancements to education, outreach and service, balanced with an effective, risk-based monitoring and enforcement regime.

Our excise duties and taxes area is responsible for administering the non-GST portions of the Excise Tax Act, as well as the Excise Act, the Excise Act, 2001, the Air Travellers Security Charge Act, the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act and the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006. This area is responsible for initiatives such as the Tobacco Compliance Strategy, which will bring in a new stamping and marking regime to improve compliance with the tobacco tax legislation.

We administer the determination of employment status, pensionable earnings and the insurability of earnings provisions under the Canada Pension Plan and the Employment Insurance Act on behalf of Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

Program Strategies—Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs

The CRA is committed to increasing compliance in all areas of tax regulation and strengthening our core business of protecting Canada’s revenue base, by providing strong taxpayer assistance.

In the area of charities, we will undertake the following:

• work with the sector to promote the accurate and timely filing of the charity information return, and further the development of compliance-related educational projects through the Charities Partnership and Outreach Program;
• strengthen accountability and transparency through enhancements to the CRA’s charities Web site, and through public education and awareness initiatives;
• work with the provinces and territories to streamline and coordinate the overall regulatory framework;
• continue implementation of the Charities Registration (Security Information) Act, which supports Canada’s national security agenda and international obligations to counter terrorism;
• continue to develop and implement systems to modernize charities operations and initiate work on the development of electronic service options for charities;
• implement a more sophisticated risk management regime with respect to monitoring and compliance; and
• continue the smooth implementation of a graduated approach to administering the new sanctions regime.

In the area of registered plans we will undertake the following:

• increase compliance by providing strong assistance to taxpayers across the sector;
• improve monitoring of all registered plans, by using an enhanced audit and review function and increasing the number of audits for registered plans;
• implement new procedures to register deferred income plans, using a risk-based approach, and ensure that the plans are in compliance with the Income Tax Act and regulations; and
• continue to enhance services to plan administrators by upgrading our toll-free enquiries line, making more information available electronically on our Web site, and improving our outreach activities and electronic publications.

For GST/HST/Excise, legislation underwent many amendments as a result of the 2006 federal budget, including the 1% GST/HST rate reduction, a one-time Tobacco Products Inventory Tax, and excise duty rate increases for alcohol and tobacco products. In addition, the budget added exemptions for Canadian wine and rate reductions for beer, resulting in new complexities to the excise legislative framework. To deal with these changes and generally enhance the effectiveness of our programs, the CRA will undertake the following:

• substantially increase the frequency of audit and compliance visits to tobacco manufacturers;
• implement initiatives under the Tobacco Compliance Strategy Project to enhance compliance at different stages of the production and distribution process; and
• implement an exemption for Canadian wine and beer, which will expand the scope of excise audits and compliance reviews to include the origin of raw materials.

The CRA is also responsible for the administration of the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, which includes administration of the export charge, the charge on duty deposit refunds and the distribution of funds to the provinces. To promote compliance during the implementation period, the CRA will initiate an outreach program to provide taxpayers with information on their rights and obligations under the new legislation. Later, the CRA will establish and maintain a post-verification program.

In the area of the Canada Pension Plan/Employment Insurance, the CRA is undertaking the following:

• converting requests for CPP/EI rulings from paper to an electronic format, which has already started by allowing payers to request rulings online for coverage requirements for their workers; and
• implementing a national quality assurance process in order to maintain reliable rulings.

The CRA will expand business opportunities by continuing to establish business relationships with other federal government departments, provinces and territories, and First Nations to improve service and reduce overall administrative costs. In particular, the Income Tax Rulings Directorate will pursue the full integration of the Ontario rulings function as part of the corporate tax administration for Ontario initiative.

Priority Initiatives—Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs

Measures—Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs

Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing (PA2)

Program Overview

This program activity encompasses a range of activities to accurately, efficiently and effectively process millions of individual and business tax returns and payments using risk assessment, third-party data matching and dependable information validation processes. As well, every known business in Canada is registered through this activity area (except those for which registration is not required by law). The key sub-activities in this program are the following:

• Individual Returns Processing processes T1 Income Tax and Benefit Returns and T3 Trust Income Tax and Information Returns for tax programs, through initial assessment, pre-and post-assessment validation review (T1 returns), accounting, adjustments, and general correspondence.
• Business Returns Processing registers businesses in Canada using the Business Number; processes, assesses and validates information filed through T2 (corporate income tax), T4 (employee), T5 (interest income) and GST/HST returns; establishes and maintains account status; carries out excise programs; and processes all payments.
• GST Administration in Quebec administers both the memorandum of understanding with the ministère du Revenu du Québec (MRQ) and payments to the MRQ.

Program Resources

Program Strategies

The ways of delivering our programs have been undergoing significant changes during the past several years. Client needs and changes in the environment are the chief considerations in our commitment to improving the accessibility and efficiency of our programs and services. Over the planning period, we will continue to strengthen our core business by encouraging wider use of electronic filing and expanding our electronic service offerings, and by redeveloping and modernizing our core information processing systems. Specifically, we will provide enhanced services to increase accessibility and efficiency, for example, by enhancing My Account and My Business Account, introducing third-party privilege management for businesses, and expanding GST/HST NETFILE and TELEFILE to allow the filing of debit returns.

The CRA will pursue partnerships with other service organizations at the federal, provincial, territorial and First Nations levels, and will expand the CRA’s business opportunities, providing more integrated services to Canadians where it makes sense to do so. Over the planning period, we will undertake the following:

• implement the redeveloped GST/HST system to modernize the delivery of the program, capitalize on opportunities to improve client service and compliance, position the CRA to develop new partnerships with the provinces and territories, and address the interface with the ministère du Revenu du Québec and provinces that use the harmonized system;
• focus on business opportunities by establishing and expanding business relationships with, and developing and delivering more programs for other federal, provincial, territorial and First Nations organizations, thereby improving and integrating services and reducing the overall administrative burden and costs for taxpayers/businesses and clients; and
• work with Ontario to begin the implementation of the Business Number as the file identifier for businesses, and start the development of business requirements for the delivery of the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario Initiative—success will be measured against agreed project plans and deliverables.

Priority Initiatives—Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing

Measures—Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing

Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance (PA3)

Program Overview

Our Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance program activity ensures compliance with tax laws for filing, withholding and payment requirements, including amounts collected or withheld in trust on behalf of the Government of Canada, as well as provinces, territories and certain First Nations.

Our non-filer/non-registrant function pursues unfiled personal and corporate income tax returns, as well as the registration of businesses that have not registered for the GST/HST as required. We also carry out compliance and enforcement activities related to filing returns and remitting payroll source deductions (encompassing taxes and CPP/EI premiums) and GST/HST amounts.

Our accounts receivable function is responsible for the timely collection of overdue accounts for all taxes, levies, duties and other amounts, and assures effective tax debt management. This function now also deals with the collection for other departments of non-tax debts related to overpaid CPP and EI benefits, as well as the collection of defaulted student loans. The collection activities for these programs were transferred to the CRA on August 1, 2005.

Program Resources

Program Strategies

Since our collection and non-filer sub-program activities are subject to important compliance risks, we plan to reinforce our processes and enforcement approaches aimed at curbing non-compliance and maximizing tax debt collections. In so doing, we will strengthen our core business of protecting Canada’s revenue base.

For the planning period, we have an aggressive business transformation agenda built on the following:

• the adoption of an integrated taxpayer-/debtor-centred approach aimed at modernizing our procedures;
• the adoption of new technologies to enhance strong core performance, and to allow for improved analytical capacity and associated risk-based approaches; and
• the development and support of our employees, as we modify our approaches and prepare them to work with new technologies and to face more complex and diverse workloads.

Our business transformation agenda will strengthen the CRA’s position as an attractive and effective service provider. It will also expand the CRA’s business opportunities in the areas of tax and non-tax accounts receivable and returns compliance.

Priority Initiatives—Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance

Measures—Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance

Reporting Compliance (PA4)

Program Overview

The Reporting Compliance program activity addresses the accuracy and completeness with which taxpayers report their tax liability. It covers a range of audit and enforcement sub-activities. Major functions include examinations, reviews, audits and investigations to ensure compliance with federal, provincial and territorial income tax and GST laws.

Our audit sub-activity deals with individual audits, business audits, international tax and tax avoidance.

Our investigations sub-activity investigates suspected cases of tax evasion and fraud, pursues criminal prosecutions, and publicizes convictions of tax law offenders in order to deter others. In addition, our Special Enforcement Program helps combat organized crime by enforcing the legislation that the Agency administers.

The Reporting Compliance program activity is also responsible for administering the Voluntary Disclosures Program. The program encourages taxpayers to come forward and correct past omissions in order to comply with their legal obligations relating to taxation.

Our SR&ED sub-activity is a federal tax incentive program that encourages Canadian businesses to conduct research and development in Canada. Under this program, we provide credits to more than 18,000 SR&ED claimants each year.

Other functions include research and analysis of compliance behaviour and trends, the identification and assessment of tax compliance risk, and the development of tools for use in audits and investigations.

The Reporting Compliance program activity is delivered by more than 9,500 employees across Canada. We conduct more than 388,000 compliance actions every year and refer over 200 investigations to the Department of Justice Canada for prosecution. In 2005-2006, our actions had an identified fiscal impact of $5.5 billion, which exceeded our commitment to the Government of Canada.

Program Resources

Program Strategies

The vast majority of Canadians (individuals and businesses) comply with tax laws when provided with the proper information, tools and assistance. When they do not, our strategy is to identify and address the most serious non-compliance issues and cases, take appropriate action, and deter future non-compliance. To this end, we review all returns, continually refine our understanding of non-compliant taxpayer behaviour, improve risk management and targeting techniques, and sharpen the focus of our audit and investigation resources. Our program priorities for the coming period are the following:

• increasing our focus on aggressive tax planning, in particular the abusive use of international transactions and tax havens;
• enhancing programs to address interprovincial tax avoidance and provincial income allocation;
• continuing to combat the underground economy and GST/HST fraud;
• developing and implementing a compliance communications strategy action plan to guide the publication of information about CRA activities to address non-compliance, in order to inform taxpayers of their obligations and the consequences of not meeting them;
• improving the administration of the Voluntary Disclosures Program; and
• enhancing the administration of the SR&ED program.

Priority Initiatives—Reporting Compliance

Measures—Reporting Compliance

Appeals (PA5)

Program Overview

This program aims to resolve disputes between the CRA and taxpayers by conducting fair and impartial reviews, including the following:

• reviewing decisions contested by taxpayers in the areas of:
  • income tax;
  • commodity taxes;
  • pensionability of employment under the Canada Pension Plan; and
  • insurability of employment under the Employment Insurance Act.

In addition, this program activity is responsible for:

• collaborating with the Department of Justice Canada during any subsequent appeals to the courts; and
• horizontally managing the administration of:
  • the Taxpayer Relief Provisions (formerly the Fairness Provisions) across all CRA program activities; and
  • the newly-formalized complaints resolution process across all program activities.

Program Resources

Program Strategies

Our objective is for Canadians to continue receiving an impartial and responsive review of contested decisions. Over the planning period, we will continue to strengthen our core business by improving the CRA’s business intelligence related to our dispute resolution procedures and our response to court challenges. In so doing, we will foster increased taxpayer confidence in our self-assessment system, thereby helping further protect Canada’s revenue base.

Our program priorities are as follows:

• reviewing and strengthening core business processes and operations to enhance the accessibility, transparency, consistency and timeliness of dispute resolution;
• improving the consistency of the Agency-wide administration of the Taxpayer Relief Provisions; and
• formalizing the process for resolving service-related complaints.

Priority Initiatives—Appeals

Measures—Appeals

Benefit Programs (PA6)

Program Overview

The Benefit Programs program activity supports the efforts of federal, provincial and territorial governments to assist persons with disabilities, families and children, and low- and moderate-income households, and to reduce child poverty. We provide Canadians with benefits, credits and other services that contribute directly to their economic and social well-being. The CRA administers three federal programs that issue benefit payments:

• the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB);
• the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) credit; and
• Children’s Special Allowances (CSA).

The CRA also delivers the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) on behalf of Human Resources and Social Development Canada and administers the Disability Tax Credit (DTC), under which entitlements are delivered at the time individual tax returns are processed, rather than as direct cash payments.

In addition, we administer 17 ongoing benefit programs on behalf of the provinces and territories. As well, we deliver one-time payment programs for provinces and the Government of Canada, upon request. We also supply information as authorized by law to federal, provincial and territorial clients, supporting the administration of their benefit and other income-based programs. In total, the CRA administered 66 different benefit-related programs and services for provinces, territories and other government departments in 2005-2006.

This program activity is divided into two sub-activities:

Benefit Enquiries provides benefit recipients with the tools, assistance and information they need by maintaining high-quality services on the telephone, and through self-service and in-person channels.

Benefit Programs Administration is responsible for issuing more than $15 billion in benefit and credit payments on behalf of the federal, provincial and territorial governments. This sub-activity provides the right tools and information so that potential recipients can provide us with the information we need to register them on the appropriate benefit rolls and ensure that they receive timely and accurate benefit payments. Review activities are conducted to verify that only eligible recipients receive benefits and credits, and that the amounts they receive are correct, in accordance with the legislation.

Program Resources

Program Strategies

The Benefit Programs program activity supports the achievement of the CRA’s strategic outcome for benefits. We process millions of timely and accurate payments each year for CCTB, UCCB, and GST/HST credit recipients, including payments under related provincial and territorial benefit and credit programs. We will continue to strengthen our core business by reassessing the core systems which ensure that the right benefits are delivered only to the right individuals. To maintain overall benefits compliance, we will continue to implement our benefits compliance strategy, based on education, facilitated compliance and a credible enforcement presence. Further, over the planning period, we will continue to enhance the self-service options on the Internet, while maintaining appropriate levels of telephone service. This is essential to many benefit recipients, especially those who may lack access to the Internet.

Maintaining our historically strong performance in benefits administration by enhancing the CRA’s national benefit delivery infrastructure also reinforces our capacity to expand business opportunities. Our aim is to reduce the overall administrative cost of government by making the use of our platform more attractive to provinces, territories and other government departments. By delivering new programs and services for clients, we can simplify administration and eliminate duplication, limit compliance burdens, and deliver higher-quality service.

The main priorities for this program are the following:

• ensure timely, accurate and accessible information and services to benefit recipients;
• ensure timely and accurate processing of benefit payments, applications and other transactions, by maintaining and enhancing our infrastructure;
• ensure benefits compliance; and
• expand business opportunities to deliver new programs and services on behalf of federal, provincial and territorial governments.

Priority Initiatives—Benefit Programs

Measures—Benefit Programs

Corporate Services (PA7)

Program Overview

The CRA delivers high-quality tax and benefit services. Our Corporate Services program activity includes human resource management, information technology, public affairs, finance and administration, corporate audit and program evaluation, legal services, and corporate strategies and business development. These activities are interrelated, and by managing our corporate services in an integrated manner across the CRA, we ensure that our tax and benefit services have the guidance, infrastructure and resources needed for successful delivery.

Program Strategies

As we move forward in implementing Agency 2010, the Corporate Services program activity will focus on strengthening our governance and infrastructure to support a strong and modern core business and new business opportunities.

Human Resources

The CRA is responsible for its own human resource regime. Since becoming an agency, we have continued to revise our human resource policies, systems and infrastructure in order to more effectively support the achievement of the CRA’s business results.

In partnership with our clients, we will develop and implement strategies in support of the Agency 2010 vision. These strategies will help ensure that Agency employees have the competencies required to work effectively in our changing business environment. We will also continue to play a critical role in support of the Agency 2010 vision by providing effective support for the acquisition of new business.

We will maintain efforts to strengthen our human resource infrastructure by creating a robust, efficient and flexible human resource function that can rapidly meet the human resource service requirements of both core business functions and new business development. These efforts continue to be guided by our Competency-based Human Resource Management Framework and will include key priorities such as the Agency Classification Standard for Services and Programs, eResourcing, and union-management relations.

Information Technology

The CRA is built on our information technology systems. The CRA will respond effectively to the key challenge facing the IT program, which is to maintain the right balance between delivering on existing commitments and creating the capacity to respond to the changing business context of Agency 2010, while addressing pressures such as the “enterprising” of government and the evolving technological environment.

Over the planning period, we will undertake the following:

• strengthen our technical infrastructure and identify opportunities for increased efficiencies by taking an enterprise view of program plans;
• develop the core building blocks for supporting self-service and enhanced compliance;
• provide supportive technology to allow appropriate access to Agency data:
  • Canadians will view their own information through convenient and secure solutions; and
  • Agency employees will be provided with the data required to perform their business functions;
• continue deployment of the IT Security Program to maintain the integrity and security of the Agency’s electronic data and IT systems;
• strengthen the recovery capability for IT systems and services to support critical business processes and meet the changing needs of the Agency, with the completion of the multi-year Data Centre Recoverability project;
• continue to build a more robust IT infrastructure that will support the high availability systems required by the Agency’s 2010 agenda and the IT infrastructure for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA);
• leverage evolving technology by increasing automation, rationalizing architecture, and consolidating services and products through the multi-year Managed Distributed Environment Program, in concert with the National IT Support Program;
• continue to improve the control of key development and operations processes by leveraging the Quality Program using industry best practices; and
• leverage our efficient and effective high-volume transaction processing capacity to ensure that we will have the IT resources available to take on new business.

Public Affairs

To improve the Agency’s use of its intranet as a preferred working tool and increase the value of the information it contains, we will continue to examine ways to effectively manage the Agency’s intranet content and applications.

Canadians rely on CRA’s publishing products for access to Agency information and services. We will continue to modernize our publishing function to achieve better value for money, while recognizing environmental concerns.

The CRA continues to effectively administer the Privacy Impact Assessment Policy. During fiscal year 2005-2006, the CRA’s Director-General level ATIP Oversight Review Committee expanded its mandate to ensure experienced senior horizontal review and monitoring of all privacy issues and developments that could have an impact on the CRA’s business.

Public Affairs will continue to build and implement a communications strategy aligned with the future direction of the Agency. We will emphasize the image of the Agency as a responsive service provider in all regions of Canada, and promote the Agency as contributing to the well-being of Canadians and the efficiency of government by delivering world-class tax and benefit services.

Finance and Administration

To sustain trust in our ability to collect revenue and deliver entitlements, the CRA will sustain its environment of sound comptrollership and administrative governance.

The Agency will advance its capacities in enterprise risk management and support a working culture that values responsible risk taking, innovation and continuous improvement. The CRA will focus on identifying and communicating enterprise risks to senior management and the Board of Management in accordance with the CRA Enterprise Risk Management Policy, as revised in 2006-2007.

To maintain high standards of information protection, we will continue implementation of the System Access Profile Program, which is aimed at rationalizing employee access to the Agency’s systems. This program will continue through 2008-2009.

The CRA will continue to improve accounting and reporting of tax revenues on an accrual basis and continue the roll-out of the Revenue Ledger Strategic Plan that will further automate the public accounting for and reporting of tax revenues.

We will continue to focus on the integrity of our financial systems and processes. Government-wide efforts to strengthen accountabilities will be supported with the introduction of a new Financial Monitoring Framework. This framework will allow the Agency to assess and report on the soundness of our internal controls, facilitating the establishment of a Chief Financial Officer certification process.

We will continue to enhance our reporting to senior management, Board of Management and central agencies according to the Agency’s Program Activity Architecture, which improves the integration of financial and non-financial reporting, and improves the linkages between resources and results.

The Agency is positioned to enhance its corporate oversight and monitoring activities with improved accounting for major investments and through the development of a robust framework for reporting against project plans to the Resource and Investment Management Committee, and, where required, to the Board of Management, in accordance with the new project management policy.

Building on past successes, the CRA’s Sustainable Development Strategy 2007-2010 will move the Agency closer to achieving its vision of being a globally recognized tax and benefit services delivery organization that demonstrates best practices in sustainable development. This strategy sets aggressive targets for greening internal operations, and provides the Agency with a framework that defines social responsibility. Additional details can be found in Appendix E  – Sustainable Development Strategy.

The Agency intends to engage its partner, Public Works and Government Services Canada, in the development and implementation of a long-term accommodation strategy for the national capital area that meets the Agency’s needs while supporting government-wide objectives for improved management of real property.

Corporate Audit and Evaluation

Corporate audit and evaluation activities will continue to provide the Commissioner, the Board of Management and senior management with independent and objective information, advice and assurance on the soundness of the Agency’s management framework, and on the effectiveness, efficiency and value for money of its strategies, programs and practices.

Legal Services

The Tax Law Portfolio of the Department of Justice Canada provides advisory and litigation services to the Agency. The legal services unit is responsible for giving advice to the Minister, the Commissioner and the Board of Management for all program activities. The legal services unit also provides training to Agency employees on key areas of public law and on confidentiality and protection of tax information. Litigation services are provided to the Agency nationally through the Portfolio’s Headquarters and regional offices.

Corporate Strategies and Business Development

The CRA is continuing to enhance the accountability practices inherent in our unique governance regime and to clarify our legislated responsibilities vis-à-vis the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). Under section 31 (1) of the Canada Revenue Agency Act, the Board of Management is responsible for “overseeing the organization and administration of the Agency and the management of its resources, services, property, personnel and contracts.”

In the TBS’ annual Management Accountability Framework (MAF) assessment of the Agency, the Secretariat refrains from rating the CRA in areas where the Board of Management has oversight responsibilities.

During 2007-2008 the CRA will develop and pilot a Board of Management oversight framework that will generally apply to the Board’s areas of legislated responsibility. This oversight framework is intended to complement the annual assessment carried out by the TBS under the MAF.

Client Relations will host two multilateral meetings a year with provincial and territorial governments to discuss common interests. The discussions will focus on the CRA working with provincial and territorial governments in areas of parallel tax administration, and the CRA’s delivery of tax and benefit programs.

In October 2006, the Government of Canada signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Government of Ontario, under which the CRA will administer Ontario’s corporate taxes in 2009. A CRA governance structure has been established to oversee the implementation of the project and guide the negotiations of the various agreements required between the CRA and the Ontario Ministry of Finance.

CRA account executives are now in place to manage the CRA’s working relationships with existing and prospective clients.

Deliverables—Corporate Services

 

Chapter 6 – Agency Governance and the Board of Management

The Board of Management brings to bear a forward-looking, strategic perspective as it undertakes its legislated role of overseeing the organization and administration of the CRA, as well as the management of the CRA’s resources, services, property, personnel and contracts.

The Board’s influence is felt throughout the CRA’s operations. Its complex role can be broken down into three key elements:

• providing guidance on the Agency’s strategic and operational objectives;
• supporting the achievement of those objectives by approving appropriate project plans, strategic approaches and investments in infrastructure and resources; and
• ensuring that sound internal and external reporting practices are in place.

The Board’s Priorities

The CRA’s priorities for the upcoming three-year period are set out in this annual Report on Plans and Priorities, which is based on the Corporate Business Plan 2007-2008 to 2009-2010 that was approved by the Board of Management.

While the Board’s and the CRA’s priorities necessarily coincide, each year the Board prepares its own three-year plan to identify specific areas of focus for the Board and its four committees (the Audit, Governance, Human Resources and Resources committees).

The following is a top-level summary of the Board’s priorities for the period 2007-2008 to 2009-2010. In addition to the priorities described below, the Board continues to refine its own governance framework and operating procedures to maximize its contribution to the Agency’s strategic objectives and program activities.

Strategic Direction

The Board will oversee the ongoing implementation of Agency 2010, the CRA’s corporate vision, by monitoring planning and progress on key initiatives.

Human, Financial and Corporate Resources Management

Enterprise Risk Management

As a key element of business sustainability, enterprise risk management will always be an important area within the Board’s purview. Following the Board’s March 2006 approval of the CRA Enterprise Risk Management Policy, enterprise risk management will be implemented over the next three years, as tools are developed, tested and rolled out.

Over time, enterprise risk management will become a fundamental element at all levels of the CRA in terms of practices, planning, reporting and decision-making.

Human Resources

The CRA requires a diverse, adaptable workforce, boasting a strong leadership component that is complemented by superior technical expertise. Within this overarching context, human resource strategies must also address issues such as the aging of the workforce, the need to reflect the growing diversity of Canadian society, and the changing nature of work as technology alters how we do business.

As a result, the Board will oversee strategies to deal with the recruitment of new employees and the development of middle managers to move into senior-level positions as they become vacant.

The CRA is a separate employer, and the collective agreements with the two major unions will expire in 2007. The Board is responsible for approving the negotiating mandate for collective bargaining.

The Board will also guide job classification reform, which is another key human resource initiative.

Information Technology

The CRA’s IT infrastructure is a cornerstone of both current operations and the CRA’s planned business expansion. In addition to the development of new online services and automated functions, there is a focus on renewal of the Agency’s legacy systems.

The Board will continue to play a critical role in ensuring that IT resources continue to be properly managed and that risks to the IT base continue to be appropriately identified and mitigated.

Financial Control and Reporting

In the CRA’s case, the government-wide focus on reporting and accountability is augmented by the stringent auditing and reporting requirements found in new tax collection agreements with the provinces and territories.

In addition, the Board carefully monitors public sector accounting standards in Canada to ensure that the CRA responds appropriately to changes in those standards as they are instituted.

For these reasons, the Agency is documenting and evaluating the CRA’s internal control over financial reporting. The Board—and the Audit Committee in particular—will play an important role in overseeing this initiative.

Project Oversight

The CRA’s Project Management Policy (approved by the Board in September 2006) will help the CRA effectively and economically manage approved projects that have a clearly established and visible project leadership.

Board approval is required on plans for major projects. The Board’s ongoing reviews then ensure that approved projects are effectively managed, that risks are identified and mitigated, and that appropriate monitoring processes are in place.

Implementing the Report on Plans and Priorities

The 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities sets out the CRA’s plans and objectives for the upcoming three-year period.

The Board of Management plays an integral role in identifying those plans and objectives and also in determining how best to achieve them. This includes enterprise risk management, and regular reviews and monitoring, to ensure that plans are being successfully implemented or that they are adjusted as required to respond to changing circumstances.

Especially in this period of change as the CRA pursues its Agency 2010 strategic vision, the Board’s oversight role is a cornerstone of the CRA’s successes and its growth as a world-class administrator of tax and benefit programs.

Conclusion by the Commissioner

I am very pleased with the progress displayed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) since I was appointed its Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer in late 2004. The 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities provides the direction that the Agency will follow over the next three years. Our focus will be on continually enhancing relationships with our client governments, improving service delivery to taxpayers and benefit recipients, maximizing tax debt collections, addressing compliance challenges, and promoting trust in the CRA’s administration.

Our key areas of focus are well defined. We are clarifying our objectives for performance measurement and expanding our ability to report on the results. We are building on our existing accountability framework and managing public resources with prudence and transparency.

By following the direction provided in this report, we aim to ensure that individuals and businesses pay the correct amount of tax due and that we deliver in a timely manner the exact amount of benefit payments to recipients under the applicable legislation.

I believe that the employees of the CRA bring life to our vision and values depicted in this report. Through their dedication and their facility to learn and adapt, we will continue in the direction set for us by our governing legislation.

 

Michel Dorais, ICD.D
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
Canada Revenue Agency

 

Appendix A – Board of Management

Board Membership

The Board of Management of the Canada Revenue Agency comprises 15 members appointed by the Governor in Council. They include the Chair, the Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, a director nominated by each province, one director nominated by the territories, and two directors nominated by the federal government. Members of the Board bring a private-sector perspective and business-like approach to management and, in this regard, have been championing a significant agenda for change within the CRA.

The following table shows Board membership as of January 2007.

Connie I. Roveto, ICD.D
Chair, Board of Management
President
Cirenity Management
Toronto, Ontario

Camille Belliveau, FCGA, CFP
Executive Director
Groupe EPR Canada Group Inc.
Shediac, New Brunswick

Myles Bourke, FCA
Corporate Director
Lethbridge, Alberta

L. Bernice Buckle
Corporate Director
Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador

Raymond Desrochers, CA, CFE
Partner
BDO Dunwoody LLP Chartered Accountants
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Gordon Gillis, LL.B.
Lawyer/Consultant
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

André Gingras
Founder and Director
André Gingras et Associés inc.
Montréal, Quebec

James J. Hewitt, FCMA
Corporate Director
Penticton, British Columbia

Howard A. Leeson, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science
University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan

Rod Malcolm, CA
Corporate Director
Iqaluit, Nunavut

Patricia J. Mella
Corporate Director
Stratford, Prince Edward Island

James R. Nininger, Ph.D.
Corporate Director
Ottawa, Ontario

Stephen E. Rudin, MSPH
Health Care Consultant
Toronto, Ontario

Sylvie Tessier, M.B.A, P.Eng.
Consulting Director
Sierra Systems
Toronto, Ontario

Michel Dorais, ICD.D
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
Canada Revenue Agency
Ottawa, Ontario

The Board of Management is responsible for overseeing the organization and administration of the Agency and the management of its resources, services, property, personnel and contracts. The Board is supported by four committees with mandates to assist the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities. The role and membership of these committees are outlined below.

Appendix B – Organizational Structure

Appendix C – Financial Tables

Table 1: Agency Planned Spending and Full-Time Equivalents

Table 2: Voted and Statutory Items listed in Main Estimates

The 2007-2008 Main Estimates for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) increased by $151.7M from 2006-2007; the changes are comprised of:

A net increase of $55.9M in Vote 1 made up of:

• an increase of $92.6M relates to the increase for collective agreements/awards
• an increase of $16.5M is comprised of transfers from Human Resources and Social Development Canada for National Collections Services
• an increase of $11.8M to address legislative, policy and operational initiatives arising from the Federal Budget including Universal Child Care Benefit, and other minor adjustments
• offset by a decrease of $65M which relates primarily to government reductions such as Expenditure Review, E-Procurement, the 2006 Expenditure Restraint, and sunsetting initiatives including GST Redesign

An increase of $47.5M in Respendable Revenue reflecting an increased demand for information technology (IT) services by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) as well as an increase in Provincial Tax Credit Fees.

An increase of $9.2M relates to Employee Benefit Plans.

An increase of $18M to the Children’s Special Allowance relates to allowances for eligible children in the care of specialized institutions.

An increase of $21M is comprised of transfers from Human Resources and Social Development Canada for payments to private collection agencies.

Table 3: Services Received Without Charge

Table 4: Sources of Respendable Revenue and Non-Respendable Non-Tax Revenue

Table 4.1: Respendable Revenue

Table 4.2: Non-Respendable Non-Tax Revenue (Agency Activities)¹ 

Table 5: Resource Requirements by Functional Organization for 2007-2008

Table 6: CRA Major Investment Projects¹

Table 7: Details on Transfer Payment Programs

Information on the Children’s Special Allowance Payments (CSA) can be found at http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20072008/p3a-eng.asp.

Details on Transfer Payment Programs for Canada Revenue Agency
1. Name of Transfer Payment Program: Children’s Special Allowance Payments (CSA) (Statutory)
2. Start Date: Aug. 28, 1995*		3. End Date: Ongoing
4. Description: Tax-free monthly payments made to agencies and foster parents who are licensed by provincial or federal governments to provide for the care and education of children under the age of 18 who physically reside in Canada and who are not in the care of their parents. CSA payments are equivalent to Canada Child Tax Benefit payments. CSA payments are governed by the Children’s Special Allowances Act which provides that this allowance be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
5. Strategic Outcome: The Canada Revenue Agency’s second strategic outcome states that “eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments”. In this context, the specific objective of the CSA is to ensure that children in care receive their rightful share of entitlements. According to the CSA Act, the CSA payments “shall be applied exclusively toward the care, maintenance, education, training or advancement of the child in respect of whom it is paid.”
6. Expected results: Monthly payments issued on schedule.
Program Activity		7. Forecast Spending 2006-2007	8. Planned Spending 2007-2008	9. Planned Spending 2008-2009	10. Planned Spending 2009-2010
		(thousands of dollars)
11. Benefit Programs
12. Total Grants		187,000	205,000	211,000	218,000
Total Contributions
Total Other Transfer Payments
13. Total Program Activity		187,000	205,000	211,000	218,000
14. Planned Evaluations: N/A
15. Planned Audits: N/A

Appendix D – Service Standards

External service standards publicly state the level of performance that citizens can reasonably expect to encounter from the CRA under normal circumstances. The CRA is committed to developing, monitoring and reporting on a full suite of service standards in areas of importance to taxpayers and benefit recipients. Service standards also support our commitment to Canadians for transparency, management accountability and citizen-centred service.

Service standards help facilitate Canadians’ compliance with tax and benefits legislation and support the CRA’s program administration.

Management sets targets that represent the percentage or degree of expected attainment of an established standard. Targets are based on operational realities and infrastructure, historical performance, degree of complexity of the work, and Canadians’ expectations.

Meeting our targets for service standards demonstrates that the organization is responsive to taxpayer and business needs.

The CRA continues to examine opportunities for introducing new service standards to keep pace with changes in technology and business processes, as well as with our evolving service strategy. We draw on our experience in working with our service standards to revise, adjust or even delete existing standards, as appropriate.

As specified in the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency’s Guide to Service Standards, new standards, as well as revisions to existing ones or their targets, must receive final approval through the Corporate Business Plan.

Introduction of New Service Standards

In 2007-2008, we will introduce five new standards, which are listed in Exhibit 1. For the first time, we are introducing two new external service standards related to accuracy of information (Benefit Programs), as well as a standard for responding to taxpayer requested adjustments via the Internet.

Exhibit 1: Introduction of New Standards

Deletions and Adjustments

There will be a number of changes to the CRA’s existing slate of service standards in 2007-2008. These will include deletions, cancelling some developmental work and adjustments to other service standards, including one representing a significant service improvement.

On September 25, 2006, the Government of Canada announced the proposed elimination of the Visitor Rebate Program as of April 1, 2007. However, claimants will still have one year to file their rebate applications. For the duration of the program, due to the legislative change to interest accrual from 60 days to 30 days, the service standard will change from four to six weeks, to four weeks. This legislative change takes effect on April 1, 2007.

This year, an adjustment will be made to targets for processing T1 paper and electronic individual income tax returns. As other Agency service standards are expressed in percentage terms, for purposes of consistency, targets will now be expressed in percentage terms.

Last year, after reviewing the need to develop a service standard for T1 publications, we determined that no further work should be done on this activity. Given the strategic direction to reduce the mail-out of publications, millions of tax filers currently do not receive any written tax information from the CRA. This number will only increase in the future, as more tax filers make use of our electronic service offerings. Nonetheless, the CRA will continue to manage the publication workloads in accordance with internal target dates for issuing publications.

As a result of ongoing re-engineering of the compliance processes for registered pension plans (RPPs), the CRA is continuing to look at changes to existing service standards, as well as improvements to its monitoring capacity. The RPP service standards will be restated to better reflect the way our programs will be delivered. For example, the formal deeming process has been integrated into the registration process. This is an amendment from its previous two-step approach (deeming of a RPP and a complete review). Results of re-engineering have significantly decreased the time it takes to register low risk plans, so the deeming process is no longer applied to low risk plans. As a consequence, results of the deemed registration standard are no longer being captured. The service standard for deemed registrations will be incorporated in a new registration service standard. In addition, following further work on a proposed new telephone standard (responding within six rings), and as a result of consultations with plan administrators, it was decided both to discontinue our current standard and to work on a new standard, because the area lacks an accurate telephone monitoring infrastructure to substantiate results. However, the CRA’s pledge to respond to telephone calls in a timely manner will continue to be communicated through the Registered Plans Directorate Newsletter.

Approval is being sought to amend the current charities telephone service standard to, responding to calls within two minutes 80% of time. This change would bring the charities telephone standard in line with the service standards for general and business enquiries. The number of charities callers has increased by over 30% in the past four years. The CRA plans to devote more resources to strengthening other communication channels for charities, including providing seminars, improving the charities Web site and responding to written enquiries.

Finally, we are seeking approval to combine and revise the standard and target for T2 corporate income tax. Based on the fact that we have exceeded our existing targets in the past three fiscal years and continue to do so, and considering the implementation of bar-coded returns, as well as an expected increase in electronic filing, we are confident that this change is warranted and needed.

Benefit Programs has committed to having more user-friendly wording for the service standards that apply to processing CCTB applications and account maintenance/responding to written enquiries² .

Exhibit 2: Changes Proposed for 2007-2008

Service Standards Under Development

The CRA also remains committed to improving service and developing new service standards, as shown by our ongoing work listed below.

Exhibit 3: Developments Planned for 2007-2008 to 2009-2010

Note: Developmental work on a discrete standard for the Part XIII withholding telephone enquiries is currently on hold; this workload is being transferred to another area of the Agency.

We have also reviewed the need for a service standard for general and business enquiries by correspondence, and have determined that it is no longer necessary. Volumes have been steadily declining over the past three fiscal years. Enquiries by correspondence now represent only 3% of our enquiries. We expect the decline to continue due to our channel convergence strategy and increased provision and take-up of online products and services such as My Account.

Reporting

We report externally on our overall performance against our service standards in the CRA’s Annual Report, found at www.cra.gc.ca/agency/annual/menu-e.html.

Exhibit 4: Service Standards in Effect for 2007-2008

Appendix E – Sustainable Development Strategy

The aim of the Sustainable Development Strategy 2007-2010 is to demonstrate how the CRA is a socially responsible organization that operates in an efficient and environmentally responsible way. The strategy sets a course of action toward reducing the impacts of our operations and service delivery on the environment; leveraging sustainable development to enhance business objectives and efficiencies; and demonstrating how the CRA contributes to the economic and social well-being of all Canadians.

The Sustainable Development Logic Model provides a concise view of the Agency’s Sustainable Development vision, its four outcomes and goals, as well as its objectives and targets. The Logic Model can be viewed at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/xi/rc4369/rc4369-03-07e.html.

To put the strategy into action, we will implement annual activities in the national Sustainable Development Action Plan, which is supported by branch and regional action plans and the Environmental Management Programs.³  We will also use a detailed performance measurement and reporting strategy to ensure that the Agency meets its legislative and regulatory obligations and achieves its sustainable development commitments. For more information on sustainable development, please visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca/sds.

Appendix F – Glossary

² The names of these standards have changed (see footnotes for service standards 39 and 41, on of Appendix D).

³ The national Sustainable Development Action Plan and the Environmental Management Programs are updated annually.