The number of objections submitted by taxpayers to the Canada Revenue Agency has risen sharply, reaching a volume that, in the last fiscal year, was nearly double what it was immediately before the pandemic.
When taxpayers, such as individuals or businesses, believe the CRA has made an error, they can file a notice of objection to request a formal and impartial review of the agency’s assessment, determination or decision.
Data provided to The Globe and Mail by the CRA show that the number of objections received in a single fiscal year grew from about 68,000 in 2018-19 to around 128,000 in 2024-25.
In its latest departmental plan, the agency said a growing volume of objection requests has outpaced its ability to process the disputes in a timely manner.
In an e-mail, CRA spokesperson Deborah Clery said the agency has increased resources to manage the high volume of objections and is working to ensure it provides timely information to taxpayers to reduce the number of disputes.
Fred O’Riordan, national leader for tax policy at consultancy EY and a former high-ranking CRA official, said the sharp rise in objections could be linked to Ottawa repeatedly increasing funding to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance in recent years. But it raises questions about the quality of both CRA audits and the accuracy and accessibility of the information the agency provides to Canadians, including through its call centres, he said.
Delays in processing objections could be a sign that the agency’s audit unit has grown disproportionately compared with the appeals branch in charge of reviewing taxpayer disputes.
Auditor-General takes aim at CRA on call centre delays, inaccurate answers
The CRA allows an objection in full or in part if it finds merit with all or some of the issues raised in the dispute. It rejects an objection if it disagrees with a taxpayer dispute in its entirety.
The data provided by the agency show it agreed with taxpayers who submitted objections, fully or partially 55 per cent of the time, on average, in the past seven fiscal years.
John Oakey, vice-president of taxation at CPA Canada, which represents chartered professional accountants nationally, said the rise in objections is concerning given how often the CRA agrees with taxpayers over the issues they raise.
“This means there are a lot of taxpayers being forced into filing a notice of objection based on an incorrect reassessment. This results in a waste of government and taxpayer resources,” he said.
The number of objections saw a sharp and temporary drop in fiscal year 2020-21, an extraordinary time during which the CRA extended tax filing deadlines owing to the pandemic and became the chief administrator of several major COVID-19 emergency benefits.
Since then, though, volumes have grown far above prepandemic levels.
Canadians waiting months for CRA approval needed for new federal disability benefit
The data provided by CRA includes objections that the agency deems to be of low-complexity, which may include simpler disputes over individual tax issues, benefits or GST and HST assessments. It also encompasses medium-complexity disputes, which include more complicated individual income tax issues, input tax credits and new housing rebates.
The count also comprises high-complexity objections, which usually involve large corporations and intricate business transactions and take significantly longer to resolve, the agency said.
The increase in objections has resulted in processing delays. The CRA aims to resolve low-complexity objections within roughly six months and medium-complexity disputes within a year at least 80 per cent of the time.
The agency met the service standard just 61 per cent of the time for simpler objections and 69 per cent of the time for medium-complexity ones in 2023-24, according to its departmental plan. Its performance improved in the last fiscal year, when it met the standard 76 per cent of the time for simpler objections and 71 per cent of the time for medium-complexity ones in 2024-25, according to information it provided via e-mail.
Taxpayers’ navigation of audits becomes more important as CRA steps up compliance
However, processing times still fell short of its service standard.
The growing technical complexity of the Income Tax Act, which makes it harder for taxpayers to understand the rules and for the agency to apply them correctly, is likely one reason behind the rise in objections, Mr. O’Riordan said.
But the soaring number of objections could also signal that Ottawa has put increased emphasis on tax compliance in recent years without proportionally increasing resources to help taxpayers comply with the tax code and to review disputes, he said.
The Trudeau government repeatedly pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to crack down on tax cheats in most of its federal budgets. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has also promised more resources to tackle specific non-compliance issues.