2014-2015 Canada Revenue Agency
Overall performanceFootnote 1
Despite an increase of 9.3% in requests received, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) showed improvement in terms of the two main indicators: the percentage of requests completed within 30 days increased by 4.8% and the percentage of requests for which all information was disclosed increased by 3.7%. This report provides comparative statistics for the last three periods (2012-2015).
Workload
The CRA received 3,006 requests under the Access to Information Act (the Act), representing 4.4% of total requests received across government in 2014-2015. This represents an increase of 9.3% in the total number of requests received by CRA in this reporting period (see Table 1).
The majority of requests received by the CRA were from the public (60.2%), followed by the business sector (29.5%). The number of requests from the public increased by 18.9% compared to 2013-2014. While compared to the previous period, the number of requests from the business sector decreased by 19.9%.
The CRA completed 2,668 requests this reporting period. The completion rateFootnote 2 was 74.2%, which is lower than the government-wide rate which is 85.1%. In 2013-2014, the completion rate for the CRA was 82.5%. The CRA also received 329 informal requests in 2014-2015 and 58.7% of these were completed within 30 days. The number of consultations received by CRA from other federal government institutions increased from 103 to 122, representing an increase of 18.4% compared to 2013-2014.
In 2014-2015, the CRA processed 1,306,661 pages to respond to access to information requests. The average number of pages processed per completed request decreased from 638 in 2013-2014 to 526 in 2014-2015.
The information released by CRA was mostly in electronic format: 1,628 requests in electronic format compared to 294 in paper format. The format of information released was similar to the results observed in the previous period (1,550 in electronic format compared to 381 in paper format).
Table 1. Workload
| Measures | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of requests received | 3,137 | 2,751 | 3,006 |
| Annual change (%) | - | -12.3% | 9.3% |
| Completed requests | 3,083 | 2,795 | 2,668 |
| Annual change (%) | - | -9.3% | -4.5% |
| Number of consultations received (from other government institutions) | 83 | 103 | 122 |
| Annual change (%) | - | 24.1% | 18.4% |
| Average number of pages processed per request completed | 433 | 638 | 526 |
| % of requests for which more than 1000 pages were processed | 6.9% | 10.3% | 11.0% |
Request completion time
Timeliness
Figure 1 reveals that 52.8% of requests were completed within 30 days or less, which is higher than the results observed in 2013-2014 (48.1%). This increase corresponds with a decrease in the completion of requests between 31 and 60 days and 61 and 120 days.
Figure 1: Request Completion Time
Text version
Figure 1 is a bar chart with vertical bars, representing the completion time by CRA during each reporting period between 2012-2013 and 2014-2015. The results are as follows:
| Completion time | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days or less | 48.52% | 48.05% | 52.81% |
| 31-60 days | 26.01% | 22.25% | 20.73% |
| 61-120 days | 13.49% | 20.57% | 15.67% |
| 121-180 days | 3.92% | 4.40% | 5.96% |
| 181-365 days | 3.67% | 2.86% | 3.49% |
| More than 365 days | 4.38% | 1.86% | 1.35% |
Extensions
The CRA took a total of 1,104 extensions in 2014-2015 compared to 1,229 in 2013-2014. The most common reason for taking an extension was interference with operations (96.5%), followed by consultations (3.1%), and the remainder was for third-party notice.
Figure 2 shows that 50.1% of extensions were taken for less than 30 days, which is an increase of 10.3% compared to the previous period. Figure 2 also shows that the number of extensions taken between 31 and 60 days decreased from 34.7% in 2013-2014 to 26.9% in 2014-2015.
Figure 2: Length of Extensions
Text version
Figure 2 is a bar chart with vertical bars, representing the length of extensions taken by CRA during each reporting period between 2012-2013 and 2014-2015. The results are as follows:
| Length of extensions | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days or less | 59.48% | 39.87% | 50.14% |
| 31-60 days | 21.56% | 34.66% | 26.93% |
| 61-120 days | 14.85% | 20.42% | 17.68% |
| 121-180 days | 2.88% | 3.66% | 3.54% |
| 181-365 days | 1.15% | 1.15% | 1.72% |
| More than 365 days | 0.07% | 0.16% | 0.09% |
Deemed refusals
In 2014-2015, the number of requests closed past the statutory deadline was 348, which accounts for 13.0% of completed requests, which is a 1.0% increase compared to 2013-2014. This rate represents a “C” grade.Footnote 3 In its annual report on the administration of the Act, the CRA attributed the high rate of deemed refusals to a large number of requests that were considered complex. The main reason for not meeting the statutory deadline was workload (62.6%). Figure 3 shows that 44.0% of overdue requests were late by 30 days or less, which is an improvement compared to 40.0% in 2013-2014.
Figure 3: Lateness of Overdue Requests
Text version
Figure 3 is a pie chart, representing the delayed days for overdue requests taken by CRA in 2014-2015. The results are as follows:
| Number of days | 2014-2015 |
|---|---|
| 1 to 15 days | 27.30% |
| 16 to 30 days | 16.67% |
| 31 to 60 days | 12.64% |
| 61 to 120 days | 18.39% |
| 121 to 180 days | 11.21% |
| 181 to 365 days | 8.05% |
| More than 365 days | 5.75% |
| Total | 100.0% |
Disclosure
Percentage of requests for which information was disclosed
In 2014-2015, 20.8% (2,668) of completed requests were entirely disclosed, which is the highest disclosure rate since 2012 (see Figure 4). Figure 4 also shows that the rate for partially disclosed requests was 51.2% in 2014-2015.
Figure 4: Level of Disclosure
Text version
Figure 4 is a bar-chart with vertical bars, representing the entirely disclosed and disclosed in part requests as proportion of total requests completed by CRA during each reporting period between 2012-2013 and 2014-2015. The results are as follows:
| Disclosure | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| All disclosed | 14.01% | 17.07% | 20.80% |
| Disclosed in part | 53.49% | 52.16% | 51.24% |
Exemptions
The average number of exemptions used per completed request was similar to the previous year (see Table 2). The most used exemptions in 2014-2015 were section 24 (Statutory Prohibitions) (32.0%), section 19 (Personal Information (24.2%) and section 16 (Law Enforcement and Investigations) (24.9%).
Table 2: Exemptions
| Exemptions | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of exemptions | 4,595 | 3,921 | 3,599 |
| Total number of completed requests | 3,083 | 2,795 | 2,668 |
| Average number of exemptions per completed request | 1.49 | 1.40 | 1.35 |
Complaints at the OIC
The number of complaints receivedFootnote 4 against the CRA was 221 compared to 283 in the previous period. Most of the complaints were refusals (152 deemed refusals and 69 administrative complaints) compared to the previous period (187 deemed refusals and 96 administrative complaints in 2013-2014). 31.2% of complaints were well-founded and resolved, 8.1% complaints were not well-founded, 9.5% were discontinued and 50.2% were still pending.