By François Boileau, Taxpayer’s Ombudsman, previously the French Language Services Commissioner as an independent Officer of the Ontario Legislative Assembly from 2007 to 2019.
The Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson’s 2025–26 annual report (published June 16, 2026) finds that Canadians continue to face significant barriers when dealing with the CRA. Complaints rose by 27 per cent, driven by processing delays, difficulty reaching agents, unclear information, account lockouts, and slow complaint resolution. The report also highlights a gap between the CRA’s public messaging and taxpayers’ experiences: during one week in summer 2025, only 35 per cent of unique callers reached an agent.
The report recognizes progress, including closer oversight of Finance Canada and the CRA, increased transparency, callback and online-chat services, greater automation, automatic tax filing initiatives and extended funding for free tax clinics. However, many improvements remain limited or at an early stage. The Ombudsperson recommends expanding automatic filing while preserving personal support and ensuring that digital tools do not create new barriers for people with disabilities, limited digital access or difficulty navigating the tax system.
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