Question Period Note: PENSION SERVICE STANDARDS AND CALL CENTRE

What is the Department doing to ensure that seniors receive timely benefits and improved pension call centre services?

The Government is committed to ensuring seniors and those dealing with health issues receive the benefits to which they are entitled, as quickly and as accurately as possible.  

Service Canada has implemented several measures to improve service to seniors, including simplifying communications to clients, streamlining application processes, and increasing automation. 

The Department monitors service standard results to ensure that targets are met and that appropriate actions are taken in a timely manner to address gaps. 

Pensions Call Centre

Canadians calling the Pensions Call Centre can expect near 100% accessibility in accessing the queue to speak to an officer, rather than be asked to call back at another time. 

Service Canada offers a teletypewriter (TTY) service for speech and hearing-impaired clients to access the Pensions program.

While the delivery of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is exceeding the target, the delivery of Old Age Security (OAS) and Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D) are facing some challenges. 

In 2024-25, OAS was deployed onto the BDM Cúram platform, and the OAS processing network is adjusting its workload priorities and capacities in response to this transition.  

CPP-D is experiencing challenges with increasing complexity, workforce capacity and workload forecasting. Applications must be adjudicated by experienced medical staff. It is essential that medical staff have the right level of experience to correctly assess applications.

CPP-D did not meet the workload inventory reduction target for 2024-25, as well as most of its service standards. Service Canada is implementing a CPP-D Improvement Strategy and Action Plan. This includes implementing short-term measures to increase capacity, simplifying processes and increasing operational efficiency through increased automation opportunities.

For CPP-D, for 2025-26 for the year-to date:

63.2% of CPP-D Initial Application decisions were made within 120 days, compared to 49.3% for the same period in 2024-25, and 53.2% for the same period in 2023-24. The target is 80%.

89.4% of CPP-D Terminal Illness application decisions were made within 5 days, compared to 88.3% for the same period in 2024-25, and 91.5% for the same period in 2023-24. The target is 95%.

84.6% of CPP-D Grave Condition application decisions were made within 30 days, compared to 86.3% or the same period in 2024-25, and 85.1% for the same period in 2023-24. The target is 80%.

In 2024-25, 42.7% of CPP-D Reconsideration decisions were made within 120 days, compared to 56.1% for the same period in 2023-24. The target is 80%. The current year-to-date is unavailable at this time.

Pension Call Centre 

The Pensions Call Centre has experienced a significant increase in call demand since 2019-20. The growing call demand to the Pensions Call Centre has been driven by special and changing payments stemming from events and legislative changes, such as the Compensatory One-Time Grant that was sent to Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) beneficiaries in April 2022, OAS increase for seniors aged 75 and over in July 2022; and CPP Enhancements. Increasing call demand to the Pensions Call Centre is also a result of changing demographics.

The average handle time of a call is the length of time that a client is on the phone with an officer. The Pensions Call Centre has also experienced an increase in call handle times since 2019-20, lowering the number of calls an officer can answer. As of the week ending August 22, 2025, call handle times are seven minutes higher (78%) than 2019-20.

This is primarily due to increasing client authentication requirements, which has become necessary to ensure the protection of personal information. Requiring seniors to provide complex, account-specific information leads to longer call handling times. The Pensions Call Centre call handling capacity was also impacted by calls for help to access online services and for payment explanations. 

Traitement des demandes de pension

En 2024-2025, Service Canada a versé 87,5 % des prestations de la Sécurité de la vieillesse (SV) au cours du premier mois d’admissibilité, comparativement à 86,6 % en 20232024. L’objectif est de 90 %. En raison de la migration vers la plateforme (Cúram) de Modernisation du versement des prestations (MVP), les données du cumul annuel des normes de service ne sont pas encore disponibles pour la SV.

En 2025-26, depuis le début de l’année, 95,2 % des prestations de retraite du Régime de pensions du Canada (RPC) a été versé au cours du premier mois d’admissibilité, comparativement à 96,1 % pour la même période en 2024-25 et 97,4 % en 2023-24. L’objectif est de 90 %.

Service Canada met en œuvre des stratégies visant à améliorer la charge de travail et les résultats quant aux normes de service. En 2024-25, la SV a également été déployée vers la plateforme Cúram de MVP et le réseau de traitement de la SV ajustera ses priorités et ses capacités de charge de travail en réponse à cette transition.

Centre d’appels des pensions

En 2025-2026, depuis le début de l’année, le centre d’appels des pensions a répondu à 1,21 million d’appels avec un temps d’attente moyen de 18,1 minutes.

Le centre d’appels des pensions offre une accessibilité quasi totale, ce qui signifie que tous les clients peuvent choisir de patienter afin de parler à un agent plutôt que d’entendre une tonalité occupée.

À l’automne 2024, le ministère a lancé une fonctionnalité de mise en attente virtuelle, qui propose aux clients de recevoir un appel lorsqu’ils sont les prochains sur la liste, ce qui réduit le temps passé en attente.

En 2025-26, depuis le début de l’année, on a répondu à 41,9 % des appels dans un délai de 10 minutes, comparativement à 63,8 % pour la même période en 2024, 25, et à 67,6 % pour la même période en 2023-24. La cible est de 80 %.