TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL UNION-MANAGEMENT CONSULTATION COMMITTEE WITH THE UNION OF TAXATION EMPLOYEES AND THE CANADA REVENUE AGENCY
February 6, 2025
OPENING REMARKS
The Assistant Commissioner (AC), Assessment, Benefit, and Service Branch (ABSB) opened the meeting by thanking all participants for their presence and shared her appreciation for the opportunity to meet and discuss technological changes coming to the Agency and how they will impact employees.
The Union co-chair also thanked all participants for their presence as well as their flexibility towards the recent scheduling changes. He also expressed his disappointment regarding management’s decisions to deny the Union’s recent request to add a last minute topic to the agenda (new software being tested for recording work time). The Union’s opinion is that the subject is within the scope of the committee as it is a technological change affecting their members in the Sudbury office.
The AC, ABSB, reiterated what she had shared with her Union co-chair, that adding a topic to the agenda after the committee chairs had set the agenda and concluded their pre-brief meeting did not align with the Terms of Reference for the Committee nor did it allow the item to researched in advance. She then offered to make an exception and time permitting, have an open discussion on the topic during the round table after all of the planned agenda topics have been presented and covered.
1. T3 Modernization
The Director General (DG), Major Projects and System Integration Directorate (MPSID), ABSB provided an update on the T3 modernization project. She opened the subject by mentioning that although it was previously forecasted that the new filing and reporting requirements may increase the volume of T3 Returns to an estimated 2 million annually, those volumes have yet to materialize to the extent expected. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was required to modernize the T3 program and systems to be able to process the expected increase in T3 returns and to collect, verify, and maintain the new Beneficial Ownership (BenO) information. Bare Trust filing requirements are currently being waived.
Furthermore, the DG, MPSID, added that modernizing the T3 program has equipped the CRA with the infrastructure needed to provide long awaited electronic services that were previously unavailable to the T3 filing population. Specifically, a new electronic filing service has now been implemented and access to trust information via the current CRA portal Represent a Client is now available.
In conclusion, the DG, MPSID, shared that the February 2024 Release is now complete and production implementation went well. It includes the reactivation of the Beneficial Ownership functionality, the expansion of the returns processing system for the remainder of the lower volume return types, prior year returns and reassessments, and the new T3 Accounting system.
Finally, the AC, ABSB, stated that this will be the last update shared at this committee on the topic as the system is now fully in production and the project is in the bedding down phase. Overall, it has been a successful project implementation and positive feedback has been received from employees using it.
The union had no questions on the topic.
2. Generative AI Chatbot
The DG, Digital Services Directorate (DSD), ABSB, opened the topic by sharing that this initiative represents a groundbreaking shift in how the CRA delivers information and interact with users, and shared the importance of navigating this transition carefully to ensure success for both the organization and the employees. In 2023, a significant breakthrough occurred in the use of Generative AI technologies. Instead of relying on traditional keyword searches, users now expect direct answers. Publicly available technologies such as ChatGPT have set new expectations for clients. In response to these developments, the CRA mobilized its business and IT resources to integrate Generative AI into the service offered. Two internal pilots were conducted which concluded that Generative AI is feasible and beneficial for the chatbot services, despite some risks associated with its use.
Additionally, CRA is now planning to deploy a beta version of our Generative AI chatbot for the upcoming 2025 tax filing season. This chatbot will run alongside the existing chatbot to gather user feedback, analyze usage trends, and ultimately pave the way for a fully functional CRA Chatbot.
In conclusion, the DG, DSD, shared her enthusiasm towards this exciting and transformative initiative for the CRA. Management recognizes the challenges it presents and are committed to addressing them proactively. By focusing on skillset development, employee engagement, effective communication, and job security, management can ensure a successful transition that benefits both our organization and the employees.
The Union mentioned that with the increase use of AI there is also an increased pressure on the users to conserve the integrity of the system and to ensure personal information is safely protected. They shared concerns towards the increased accountability their members may be facing in a near future.
Management thanked the Union for sharing their concerns and stated that Protected B information would not be shared using this initiative as it is strictly using the external Canada.ca website to provide general information to clients. Finally, management suggested to have a follow up conversation on the topic at the next committee meeting and share employee feedback on the initiative.
3. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
The DG, DSD, ABSB, opened the topic by mentioning that, since the last update provided to the Committee, 9 new RPAs were developed and migrated into production. These processes have allowed impacted business areas to focus on more value-added tasks. Positive feedback has been received following the implementations.
Furthermore, the RPA Section has been delivering on a vision of “removing the robot from the CRA employee”. This process is done by creating innovative process automations to empower employees and optimize workloads. The common thread across all of the automated processes are tasks that are manual, administrative, repetitive or prone to human error. These workloads, when automated, allow employees to shift focus to work that is more challenging, more enjoyable and ultimately more valuable for the Agency. In that vein, in September 2024, CRA received the authority to operate (ATO) for the attended robot type, through a transition to a new RPA software provider. Attended robots are similar digital personal assistants, used to share workloads between employees and robots.
A new pilot with attended bots began in early December 2024. The automations are geared towards assisting agents with routine and time consuming tasks and reducing the average call handle time so that agents may serve an increased number of callers, at maturity.
Another project is planned for March 2025 with the implementation of an RPA with the capability of screening 30-35% of the benefits related items received via Submit Documents that do not have a case or reference number. These are documents related to Canada Child Benefit applications that are currently manually screened by control clerks to determine which workflow they belong to before actions are taken.
In conclusion management confirmed that they do not anticipate any Full Time Equivalent (FTE) reductions in the Tax Centres (TC) due to the launch of these bots as the goal is to simply allow staff control the work they receive more efficiently and within their performance targets.
The Union shared concerns with regards to the ATOD testing team, a workload that has been affected by these automated processes, and the potential Human Resources impacts.
Management confirmed that the use of RPAs is intended to reduce the amount of repetitive tasks and to optimize the employees’ time spent on more valuable tasks. This process is fairly new to the testing workload mentioned by the Union and it is still at the initial stage and more improvements are expected to be implemented. In conclusion, management acknowledged that new technologies may bring fear and committed to continue to bring RPA as an agenda topic in future committee meetings.
4. Internal Multi-Factor Authentication (IMFA)
The DG, Cyber/Information Security Directorate (CISD), Security Branch (SB), provided an update on IMFA. He shared positive feedback regarding the recent deployment which started in July 2024. Prior to the national deployment, several consultations were held with the regions and branches to ensure a smooth transition. Furthermore, management shared their appreciation for the very helpful consultations with Union’s members, which allowed for adjustments and amendments to the deployment plans. The targeted deployment end date of December 2024 was met and management is currently addressing stragglers and unique cases which is anticipated to be resolved by March 2025.
Furthermore, the DG, CISD, shared the different steps that have been taken in order to ensure minimal user friction and impact on CRA regular operations. Each local Deskside Support team implemented its own schedule to meet their deployment targets, while working closely with certain divisions, such as those responsible for Contact Centres, to ensure minimal disruption to their business lines. Additionally, CISD responded to the Union concerns regarding the request to present two pieces of ID and amended the initial plan. During the roll out, local IT Support staff verified employee CRA ID cards at security key pickup, and no other ID. They also worked with the regional Finance and Administration/Security to ensure all employees had valid ID cards prior to security key deployment.
To conclude, the DG, CISD, shared deployment statistics with the committee. The total CRA users is at 52,230 and as of January 30th 2025, the total number of CRA users onboarded is at 99.3%.
The Union shared their recent personal issues using the IMFA after a major Microsoft update has been completed. This situation seems to impact the identified passwords and creates unnecessary demand on IT helpdesk to reset employees’ password.
5. Corporative Administrative System (CAS) Transition to New Solutions (CTNS)
The DG, Technology and Digital Strategy Directorate, Human Resources Branch (HRB) provided an update. He mentioned that Systems, Applications and Products (SAP) software will not be supported beyond December 31, 2027. Without continued vendor maintenance, CAS could face significant vulnerabilities, including increased security risks, potential service failures and limitations on future enhancements. Therefore, the Project Management Office in the HRB is working in close collaboration with project partners from HRB, the Information Technology Branch, the Finance and Administration Branch, and the Canada Border Services Agency to analyze a variety of solutions for the Finance, HR and Time & Pay functionality in CAS, since there is no “one-to-one” replacement for the current software.
Initially, the project had planned to adopt the latest technology through software-as-a-service (SaaS) products that would advance transformation initiatives at the Agency and had completed several phases through internal governance processes. However, the project has recently reassessed its scope in light of standardization efforts related to HR and Pay from central agencies like Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), and the current focus on fiscal restraint and refocused spending in the government. Given the revised scope, the project has opted for a technical upgrade to CAS instead of pursuing a transformational path. This will ensure that CAS continues to provide stable, reliable service, with vendor support until 2040. At this time, there is a confirmed solution in place for the Finance (S/4HANA) and Time & Pay (H4S4) processes and a solution for HR (H4S4) has been identified. User functionality is expected to remain largely unchanged, preserving familiarity for employees and managers and eliminating the need for extensive retraining.
To conclude the topic, the DG, HRB, confirmed that management will present a report to the Resource Management Committee in early 2025 to propose the recommended solution. Management is confident this process will be completed before the current system vendor expiration in 2027.
The Union mentioned it is very important to implement a check point during the development process as it has been helpful during the release of the Phoenix system.
6. Secure Portals Re-engineering (SPR)
The DG, DSD, ABSB, opened the topic by sharing that the initiative is not entirely new and the intent of the presentation is to inform the Union on the project’s mandate. The objective is to enhance the infrastructures of the CRA’s secure portals to provide a more efficient service to its clients.
The project is being delivered in four deliverables under two implementation streams; foundation stream and services stream. As of October 2024, the project successfully closed out two of the project’s deliverables effectively providing more efficient services to Canadians and internal programs who offer services inside the secure portals. Furthermore, all planned common user services have been built for delivery into the secure portals. Clients will now experience a consistent and improved user experience when completing tasks using these services. As well, these re-usable services are now available to be used by new programs and services as they onboard to the secure portals.
The DG, DSD, ABSB then outlined the new Communications Centre improved features such as ability to sort and filter mail, ability to view letters, a new Reply feature and more.
In conclusion, management shared an important announcement. In January 2025, there has been a launch of the single Sign in option in the portals and another smaller update called angular will be included in the upcoming February release. Management also confirmed they are actively seeking solutions for portals account lockouts as they understand the user’s frustration.
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Commitment: Management proposed to keep this topic on the next meeting agenda. |
7. Corporation Tax Processing System (CORTAX)
The Director, Corporation and Specialty Returns Division (BRD), ABSB, introduced this new topic by stating that the Canada Carbon Rebate for businesses (CCRB) was introduced with the intention of returning fuel charge proceeds to a population of eligible businesses originally estimated to be about 600,000. CRA began issuing payments to eligible businesses through this system beginning in late November of 2024.
A new sub-application in CORTAX called the CORTAX Rebate Processing System (CORPS) was developed to allow for this automated payment of the CCRB. Using a CORTAX sub-application allowed for a shorter training window for regional staff to become comfortable with the new functionality since they were already familiar with navigating this system. CORPS includes functionality to verify T4 slip information in real-time from the Infodec system to determine the value of the CCRB payment.
Furthermore, the Director, BRD, ABSB confirmed that even though the majority of the rebates were issued automatically, there are some situations where manual actions are required prior to releasing the rebate. For this manual work, assessing teams in the Winnipeg, Sudbury and the Atlantic tax centres were established to review cases that require this manual intervention. The expected number of accounts to be reviewed is between 20 and 30K, and each TC team is comprised of 1 team leader and 15 employees (SP04 level) from December 2024 to March 2025.
Finally, she stated that the procedures and process flows will continue to be developed as additional functionality is implemented in the system, including the ability to process reassessments and auto create cases. This will be done in conjunction with the field teams and stakeholder branches.
The Union had no questions on the topic.
8. Purview Sensitivity Labels
The DG, CISD, SB, provided an update on the deployment of the Microsoft 365 (M365) Sensitivity Labels feature. This feature replaces the TITUS classification tool and has been proven to effectively integrate with Outlook and Office products, making it more user-friendly. With the replacement of TITUS with Sensitivity Labels, users no longer receive pop-up reminders to mark or encrypt documents and emails. The removal of pop-up reminders does not mean that correctly categorizing information is any less important. Users remain responsible for ensuring proper categorization, and encryption, of information. In that sense, Purview Sensitivity Labels mark all emails and documents at the unclassified level by default. Users will no longer need to mark emails or digital documents if the content is categorized as unclassified. If the content requires a higher categorization, it must be selected from a drop-down menu by the user.
In conclusion, the DG stated that an Agency deployment began in September 2024 for Security Branch users and in October 2024 for Information Technology Branch users. More recently, with the deployment having progressed well for the two initial branches, full Agency deployment started in November 2024. As of January 28, 2025, the completion rate for the Agency deployment is at 98%.
The Union questioned whether this would impact their existing concerns about not being able to receive Protected B information via email.
Management indicated that this new product does not impact this concern one way or another, but recognized that the concern continues to exist and is looking at means to address it in the future.
9. GCdocs to SharePoint Online
The Director General (DG), Service, Innovation and Integration Branch (SIIB) opened the topic by mentioning that the Agency will be transitioning from GCdocs and shared drives to SharePoint Online and from GCdocs personal workspace to H:drive to OneDrive. Using SharePoint Online as a corporate repository and OneDrive is part of the overall M365 E5 implementation approach configuring the Information and Data Lifecycle Management business requirements to meet the Treasury Board Secretariat and Agency’s Information Management policies. Since the Treasury Board Secretariat no longer mandates the use of GCdocs to manage information resources of business value, SIIB and ITB have been looking into the feasibility of implementing SharePoint Online at the CRA, allowing all CRA employees to be on the same platform for the first time.
In July 2024, the Strategic Investment Plan proposal was accepted in the Major Project Investment Oversight Process (MPIOP) and the feasibility assessment was completed. Management is therefore confident to move forward given that the systems have demonstrated robust functionality that is closely aligned with the Agency’s Information Management objectives while enhancing collaboration.
Additionally, SIIB is currently rolling out a pilot/Minimum Viable Product (MVP) of SharePoint Online to 20 organizational units with up to 300 participants. The goal of this pilot is to configure and test the retention rules in SharePoint. The retention rules set specific requirements on how long information, including data, must be kept, to minimize storage costs, reduce litigation risks, reduce information and data security risks, and help with Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests.
The DG concluded by stating that the end goal is to move all content from GCdocs to SharePoint online by March 2026.
The Union asked if management is looking at restricting access and the ability to modify a document with this new initiative. In the past, users have modified procedural guides, such action should be restricted to a specific group.
Management confirmed working on applying access control and will keep that information in mind while collecting information from the Pilot project.
10. Technological change re-scheduling mainframe work (BMC software)
The Director, Production Assurance Division (PAD), ITB, introduced the subject by mentioning that it is not related to Artificial Intelligence. Consequently, the software being used for scheduling mainframe work (BMC control-M) has been updated to allow behind the scene batch jobs management. This system enhancement is impacting the Batch Scheduling and Media Support Team and how it operates.
In August 2023, as part of a scheduled upgrade to the BMC Control-M software, Shared Services Canada enabled two add-ons called Control-M Self Service and Workload Change Manager. These enhancements enabled application users to have more control and self-manage their own batch execution, with some restrictions. It also provided the capability to directly create schedules in Control-M rather than relying on the Batch Scheduling and Media Support Team in the PAD to provide this service. The Batch Scheduling and Media Support Team will still however provide a role in validating the schedules and activating them for batch users.
Furthermore, ITB recently completed a successful proof-of-concept with a number of application users that verified the viability of enabling these new capabilities. The PAD is now in the process of implementing a phased rollout to all batch users, with a planned completion date for this initiative of August 2025.
The Union asked if management anticipates any Workforce Adjustments in August 2025 as a result of this initiative.
Management stated that it is possible that the 9 people team responsible for this workflow may be impacted. As we are still in the initial phase of the roll-out, management is still determining and measuring how much the self-serve tool will reduce the requirement for employees’ interaction.
Closing remarks
The Union co-chair reiterated his dissatisfaction with management for not agreeing to add an additional agenda topic to the agenda. The Union was recently made aware that there is a technology being used in the Sudbury office to track employees Logins and Logouts. It is their opinion that this technology introduced at the Agency should be presented at the Technological Change Committee before being implemented.
Management suggested to refer this to the local Union representatives as the Technological Change Committee mandate is to discuss technological changes at a national level. Furthermore, management would require more information on the system being used in Sudbury in order to provide a comprehensive response to the Union.
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Commitment: The Union committed to send information on the initiative to the Union-Management Relations (UMR) team for distribution to the Co-Chairs. |
Management confirmed that they will look at the information to be provided by the Union and provide a response accordingly. For future meetings, the management Co-chair suggested that the Committee explore the inclusion of a brief, “by exception” round table at the end of each committee meeting going forward.
In closing, the management Co-chair shared her appreciation for the opportunity to have meaningful discussions and how they underscore the relevance and importance of the work undertaken by the Committee.
The Union co-chair also shared his appreciation for the opportunity to meet and discuss Union’s members concerns. He also expressed looking forward to the implementation of a round table at next committee meetings which will allow for open discussions.
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On behalf of / Gillian Pranke Date: August 27, 2025 |
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Marc Briere Date: December 11, 2025 |