Commissioner’s message

This past year was a challenging one. In the very early stages of implementing our new complaint-handling process and updated technology, the submission of in-mandate complaints increased by 38% and reached the highest level in the CCTS’ history.

This triggered an unexpected surge in workloads and was a real test of our organizational resilience. It affected all our teams — contact centre agents, complaint-handlers, IT, and our Human Resources and Communications departments. I am pleased and proud to share that we have come through the year successfully, with good progress to report on all fronts. In addition to our day-to-day operational successes in providing first-class complaint-resolution services to Canadians, we also dedicated time to work with our Board to update our strategic plan for the next five years.

The process and technology updates that we launched in May 2023 are showing positive results. We’ve reduced the wait time to accept customer complaints into our process by almost 90% — we are now able to assess and accept most complaints within 1-2 days. Most complaints are also concluded faster at the earliest stage of our process: the vast majority (87%) of resolved complaints are settled within 20 days. That said, we had some areas for improvement this year: the number of complaints pending at our Conciliation and Investigation stages was too high. This meant that some customers had to wait before our staff could begin to work on their complaints. Although this represents only a small portion of accepted complaints, we have taken steps to reduce the number of pending complaints at these stages. We refined some of our processes to increase efficiency and increased our capacity to handle complaints. Addressing the number of complaints at Conciliation and Investigation remains a key focus for the Board and Management, and we expect to be able to reduce wait times for these later stages of our process to normal levels in the first half of 2024-25.

We are continuing to increase our efforts to build public awareness about the service we offer to Canadians. We continue to foster collaborative and value-driven relationships with our stakeholders, enhancing our engagement with consumers and consumer groups, industry, regulatory bodies and government. All of these relationships help ensure that Canadians are informed of their right of recourse and their option to engage with the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) for unresolved complaints.

Complaints don’t resolve themselves. It takes a team of dedicated people to provide the reliable, high-quality, and efficient service that has earned us the trust and respect of the stakeholders we serve. To our staff, your engagement and resilience have enabled us to navigate challenges and seize opportunities for growth and improvement. I am proud to be part of this diverse team of unique professionals.

Finally, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude for the work of our esteemed Chair, Catherine Aczel Boivie, as she retires from the CCTS’ Board of Directors after eight years of guiding the CCTS with her strategic vision and leadership. Catherine’s dedication to the CCTS has been instrumental in shaping our strong foundation now and into the future. We all deeply appreciate her years of service.

Sincerely,

Howard Maker
Commissioner & CEO, CCTS