Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson Issues Final Annual Report Detailing CRA Service Concerns and Recommendations

Canada’s Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson, François Boileau, has released his final annual report, covering the activities of the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson (OTO) for the period from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025. The report, titled Clearing the Path, was tabled in the House of Commons on June 20.

The annual report outlines the OTO’s role in reviewing service issues and complaints about the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and details two new recommendations made to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue and the Chair of the CRA’s Board of Management. These recommendations are intended to improve the CRA’s service to Canadians, according to the office.

During the 2024–2025 fiscal year, the OTO released two systemic examination reports: Unintended Consequences, regarding the CRA’s administration of 2023 bare trust filing requirements, and Timing Is Everything, which addressed delays in Canada child benefit (CCB) payments for temporary residents. The OTO made 16 recommendations between these two reports; the CRA accepted 13, the office stated.

The final report from Mr. Boileau’s five-year mandate includes a chapter addressing services for vulnerable and hard‑to-reach populations. This section reviews CRA programs such as the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, the Income Tax Assistance – Volunteer Program (in Quebec), and SimpleFile. It also discusses how these programs might be improved.

Key recommendations in the report include a call for the CRA to perform a comprehensive review of all content on Canada.ca related to tax services, with an aim to remove redundant information and make materials clearer and easier to navigate. The Ombudsperson also recommends a permanently funded grant program for organizations running volunteer income tax clinics, to support free services for eligible taxpayers.

The OTO identified several trends in taxpayer complaints over the past year:

• Issues with information provided by CRA contact centre agents, including complaints about incomplete, inaccurate, or unclear details, and difficulty reaching staff due to long wait times.
• Delays in processing income tax and benefit returns, although the CRA’s service standards do not apply to some categories of returns, such as those for deceased, bankruptcy, international and non-resident individuals, or situations requiring more information from taxpayers.
• Complaints regarding CRA collection actions, including situations where taxpayers felt their personal circumstances were not considered, in some cases leading to claims of financial hardship.
• Concerns regarding the Canada child benefit (CCB) review process, with complaints that the CRA did not clearly inform individuals why additional documentation was needed.
• Reports that the CRA’s Service Feedback Program did not respond to complaints within its stated timeframe.

The Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson operates independently from the CRA and receives complaints from Canadians who believe they are not receiving appropriate service from the agency. The office states that its main objective is to improve the CRA’s service to taxpayers and benefit recipients through the review of complaints.

Mr. Boileau’s five-year term as Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson concludes with this report.