Question Period Note: EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CALL CENTRES STANDARDS

How is Service Canada leveraging investments to improve access and reduce wait times in its Employment Insurance call centres?

• Service Canada Call Centres, including the Employment Insurance Call Centre, are a critical part of the Government’s service to Canadians.

• The Department is taking action to reduce wait times and ensure Canadians have timely access to the information and support they require. Even with these improvements, Canadians may still experience longer wait times to reach an Employment Insurance Call Centre agent during peak periods.

On March 9, 2020, the Employment Insurance (EI) Call Centre migrated to a new telephone platform, the Hosted Contact Centre Solution (HCCS), which allows virtually all callers to have the ability to wait in queue to speak to an agent.

On November 3, 2022, the Fall Economic Statement announced $483 million, over three years, to reduce EI Call Centre wait times.

The Department continuously works to align call handling capacity to the call volume.

In 2024-25, as of the week ending September 6, 2024, the EI Call Centre answered 2.55 million calls with an average annual wait time of 5.7 minutes, compared to 2.56 million calls and an average wait time of 4.3 minutes for the same period in 2023-24, and 2.71 million calls and an average wait time of 25.5 minutes in 2022-23. The EI Call Centre’s service level target is answering 80% of calls within 10 minutes. As of the week ending September 6, 2024, the month-to-date service level stood at 99.5% while the year-to-date result stood at 78.5%, compared to 59.5% and 23.3%, respectively, for the same period in 2023-24, and 87.6% and 82.8% respectively in 2022-23.

While the EI Call Centre continues to find innovative ways to enhance the client experience in a post-pandemic era, certain peak periods are expected to result in an influx of call volumes and longer wait times for Canadians

If pressed (Access)
• Individuals can use one of Service Canada’s online or telephone self-service options to obtain general program information or consult their account, allowing them to resolve enquiries without waiting to speak to a representative.
Service Canada will soon offer virtual hold, where clients waiting to speak to an agent can be called back when they are the next in line. This feature is expected to launch for EI by Fall 2024.

If pressed (Teletypewriter Service)

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

• In August 2024, Service Canada implemented a new solution that modernizes the teletypewriter service by allowing calls to be answered directly by an agent rather than leaving a message.