Staff in Atlantic Canada among 1,300 affected by announced CRA job cuts

The president of the union representing Canada Revenue Agency employees is warning about upcoming job cuts at the tax agency, and CRA workers in Atlantic Canada will be among those affected.

The Union of Taxation Employees sent out a release last week after the CRA informed the union that about 1,300 term workers at the agency's contact centres won't have their contracts renewed when they expire on May 16. Term employees are those hired for a defined and limited period of time.

Marc Brière, the union's national president, said Thursday that no term employees in Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia were impacted.

Other parts of the Atlantic region are facing cuts, though. He estimates around 125 jobs will be lost in New Brunswick, and roughly 250 in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"My heart goes out to them, but also for those who are left behind," Brière told CBC News.

"The CRA will renew the contract of maybe about 1,200 employees — term employees — but most of them will only be renewed until Sept. 5, so not even four months. And their future is very doubtful… I suspect that a lot of them will be let go in September."

In a statement, the CRA said its workforce traditionally fluctuates due to annual hiring during tax-filing season, and the agency's goal is to balance service delivery with the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. 

"These employees are hired on a term basis, meaning their start and end dates are set in advance and outlined in their offer of employment at the CRA. These individuals are clearly informed that the employment is only temporary," the statement reads.

"The CRA may extend some term employees beyond filing season, balancing service needs and fiscal responsibility. When needs increase, the CRA does its best to rehire experienced, previously trained contact centre service representatives."

'The future doesn't look too bright'

This latest round of job cuts follows other recent reductions at the taxation agency.

In November, the agency announced that 580 term employees, many of whom were debt collectors, would be laid off. This included 25 temporary employees on Prince Edward Island and 126 across Atlantic Canada.

Brière noted that after last year's tax season, the CRA did not extend the contracts of about 2,000 contact centre workers. Now, one year later, similar job cuts are happening again.

Before the pandemic, the CRA was severely understaffed in its contact centres.— Marc Brière, Union of Taxation Employees

He said at the peak of the pandemic, there were about 8,000 employees working at CRA's contact centres across the country. After the latest reductions, Brière estimates that number will fall to just over 3,000, and warned that this significant drop will have impacts for Canadians.

"The wait times for people calling the CRA offices, especially in the summertime, in June and July, businesses are calling. People are calling for their benefits," he said. "It's a peak season, so I think that… like last summer, it's going to be pretty bad out there."

Brière is uncertain whether this trend will continue next year, as the CRA may continue to cut more term employees after the end of the fiscal year.

"It's nice to say for the government that they want to go back... to pre-pandemic levels of employment. The problem with that narrative is that before the pandemic, the CRA was severely understaffed in its contact centres," he said.

Brière pointed to a report by Canada's auditor general in the fall of 2017, which found that CRA call centres were providing taxpayers with "very limited access." The agency was blocking more than half of the calls it received, preventing taxpayers from obtaining necessary information, according to the report.

Following that report, Brière said the tax agency increased staffing levels, but he said those gains are now being reversed.

"The future doesn't look too bright."