Commissioner’s Message

The 2021-2022 year marked the continuation of work on our service delivery project – the most significant modernization effort in our history.

We will be undergoing significant change over the coming year. We are changing our complaints process with the objective of delivering a more effective, efficient, and transparent process that is streamlined to get complaints resolved more quickly and to enhance our value to our stakeholders. We are also improving transparency through our reporting and ensuring consumer awareness through engagement with consumer groups. We are also undertaking a significant technology transformation to help us improve operational efficiency and our ability to adapt to fluctuating complaint volumes. We aim to launch these new processes and technologies by mid-2023.

We’ve also started to implement various activities that are part of our stakeholder engagement strategy. As part of our initiative to have more formalized and proactive consultations with a range of stakeholders, in February of 2022 we launched the Consumer Advisory Panel. The Panel, which will meet twice each year, engaged nine consumer advocacy groups to discuss key topics such as the needs of vulnerable, disadvantaged and hard-to-reach consumers.

Accessibility of the CCTS complaints process to customers with disabilities remains an objective for the CCTS. In June of 2022, we held consultations with participants from five accessibility groups, during which we heard that the biggest hurdle for the accessibility community is the lack of awareness of the CCTS. Concerns about broad public awareness of the CCTS by all Canadians have been clearly expressed to us and we have launched a project to review and revisit all of our public awareness activities – as well as those of our Participating Service Providers.

We want Canadians to know that we are here to help in the event of an unresolved dispute with a service provider. In this report, we provide case summaries which help tell the story of the work we do every day. They provide a lens into understanding the kinds of individual complaints that we hear and highlight the outcomes we help facilitate to ensure that a customer has been treated fairly and that providers are held accountable when appropriate. I am very proud that we continue to help resolve almost 90% of complaints, often at the early stages of our processes – even through this incredibly busy time of significant change.

In May of 2022, the Government of Canada proposed a policy direction to the CRTC on telecom competition, affordability, consumer rights and universal access. The proposed policy speaks of strengthening the role of the CCTS, and we submitted a formal response in July. We look forward to the finalization of the policy direction and its impact on us and our role.

Throughout all of these events, the COVID-19 pandemic has required us to maintain our safe work-from-home model. However, as the situation normalizes, we are transitioning to a hybrid work model and we look forward to the collaboration opportunities this model will facilitate. We will continue to support our staff and their work, no matter whether they are working in the office or remotely. In the face of this upcoming change along with ongoing and new initiatives, the constant has been the commitment of our amazing staff. They’ve worked tirelessly to ensure that the CCTS continues to provide outstanding dispute resolution services for Canadian consumers and service providers. Thank you all so very much for your hard work and dedication.

Howard Maker
Commissioner & CEO, CCTS