Minister Jean Pierre Blackburn Makes Changes to the Agency's Call Centres

MONTREAL, QUEBEC, May 19 (MARKET WIRE) --
The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of National Revenue and
Minister of State (Agriculture and Agri-Food), today announced changes to
the way agents respond to enquiries received on the Canada Revenue Agency
(CRA) tax and benefit enquiries lines. The new policy will allow
taxpayers who call for information to find out the identity of the call
agent on the phone. The policy will help reinforce the agents'
accountability while also ensuring greater consistency in the way they
greet callers.

"The Government is committed to streamlining services and making the tax
system more accessible and flexible to respond to the needs of
Canadians," stated Minister Blackburn. "Now, anyone calling a call centre
will be greeted by an agent who provides his or her name, which means
better service for taxpayers."

As an example, enquiries agents at the different CRA call centres
throughout the country will now be providing their first name in their
greeting as follows: "Canada Revenue Agency, Individual Income Tax
Enquiries, Natalie speaking." Agents will also have an individual CRA
employee identification number and regional suffix that can be requested,
for example: "My name is Natalie and my agent reference number is 12345,
QC," for a call taken at the Quebec Region call centre.

"This new policy will help to improve the interactions between Canadian
taxpayers and businesses with the CRA. From our point of view, this will
make our dealings with the Agency even more user-friendly overall, and we
fully support that," indicated Corinne Pohlmann,Vice-President of
National Affairs, from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

From April 2008 to April 2009, CRA call centres answered approximately
14.6 million calls; more than 11.1 million calls through their Individual
Enquires Services lines; more than 3.5 million calls through their
Business Enquiries Services lines; and over 1 million calls through the
Electronic Services Helpdesk.

Contacts:
Canada Revenue Agency
Noel Carisse
Media Relations
613-952-9184

Office of the Minister of National Revenue
Natalie Boileau
Director of Communications (Acting)
613-995-2960

Canadian Federation of Independent Business
Corinne Pohlmann
Vice-President of National Affairs
613-235-2373

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