Other statistical highlights
Annual Report
August 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024
Contact Centre activities
Our Contact Centre received approximately 124,000 communications in 2023-24. This represents a 27% increase from last year (up from 98,000). Consumers contacted us by telephone, in writing and through our online chat.
Phone calls continue to be the most-used type of communication. The second most-used type of communication is written correspondence, which includes our online complaint form. Online chat sessions were used least.
| Type of communication | 2023-24 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Written correspondence | 58,044 | +76% |
| Phone calls answered | 63,086 | +3% |
| Chat sessions answered | 2,862 | -16% |
| Total communications | 123,992 | +27% |
Out-of-mandate issues
Each year some customers raise issues that we are unable to accept because they fall outside our mandate. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) sets our mandate and reviews it from time to time.
The complaints that we are authorized to accept and examples of services and subjects that fall outside our mandate are set out in our Procedural Code. When we receive complaints outside our mandate, such as issues of pricing, infrastructure, and privacy, we notify the customer and service provider. We then refer the customer to a more appropriate organization or complaint-handling body.
Procedural Code Section 3
In a year marked by a nearly 40% increase in overall complaint volumes, there was an 18% year-over-year decrease in complaints that fell outside our mandate (from 5,708 last year to 4,660). This is likely due to the improved upfront guidance within our new online complaint form. Launched in May 2023, the form provides clear information about the issues that fall outside our mandate. Customers are therefore aware of these issues before they submit a complaint.
| Issue | Number |
|---|---|
| Out-of-scope telecom issues | |
| Internet applications and content, s. 3.1(a)(i) | 62 |
| Infrastructure s. 3.1(c)(vi) rights of way, s. 3.1(c)(vii) plant, poles, towers, s. 3.1(c)(iv) networking services |
661 |
| Customer equipment and wiring s. 3.1(c)(i) customer-owned equipment, s. 3.1(c)(ii) inside wiring |
405 |
| Regulated services s. 3.1(a)(ii) emergency services, s. 3.1(a)(iii) payphones, s. 3.1.(a)(vi) 900/976 calls |
5 |
| Telemarketing and unsolicited spam, s. 3.1.(a)(v) | 181 |
| Phone or internet scams | 207 |
| Other s. 3.1(a)(iv) Yellow Pages or business directories |
27 |
| Out-of-scope broadcasting issues | |
| Content s. 3.1(b)(i) digital media broadcasting undertaking services, s. 3.1(b)(ii) interactive TVSP services and applications, s. 3.1(b)(iii) broadcasting content, s. 3.1(b)(iv) journalistic ethics, s. 3.1(b)(vi) simultaneous substitution |
50 |
| TVSP not required to participate in CCTS | 282 |
| Other | 88 |
| Other out-of-mandate issues | |
| False/misleading advertising, s. 3.1(c)(viii) | 639 |
| Aggressive tactics | 408 |
| Privacy issues, s. 3.1(c)(ix) | 541 |
| Pricing, s. 3.1(c)(v) | 868 |
| Security services, s. 3.1(c)(iii) | 236 |
| Total for all out-of-mandate issues | 4,660 |
Procedural Code Section 4
Complaints about customer service, operating practices or policies of service providers do not fall within our mandate. However, we track the inquiries we get about these issues.
In 2023-24, these issues decreased by 29%. This is the third year that complaints about customer service, operating practices and policies decreased.
| Issue | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| Section 4.1 Customer service | ||
| Rude representative | 424 | |
| Wait times | 466 | |
| Other – Customer services | 1,347 | |
| Total | 2,237 | |
| Section 4.3 General operating practices and policies | 2,889 | |
| Total | 5,126 | |
Procedural Code Section 10
Under our Procedural Code, we have a duty to decline complaints when:
- The customer has not yet given the service provider a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issues (Section 10.1).
- The same complaint had been or was being dealt with by another agency with authority to compensate the customer for loss (Section 10.2b).
- The facts of the complaint relate to events happened more than a year before the complaint was submitted (Section 10.3a).
- The complaint is about issues that happened more than one year before the service provider joined the CCTS as a Participating Service Provider on or after September 1, 2017 (Section 10.3(b)).
While we must decline such complaints, we track and report on them.
In the past year, complaints for issues that fell under our duty to decline to take action decreased by 83%. This decrease is likely due to the improved upfront guidance in our online complaint form. This form provides clear information about the steps customers must take before we can accept their complaint.
| Issue | Number |
|---|---|
| Section 10.1 PSP not offered opportunity to resolve | 163 |
| Section 10.2(b) matter previously or currently with another agency | 29 |
| Section 10.3(a) facts transpired over one year ago | 317 |
| Section 10.3(b) facts arose prior to PSP effective date | 7 |
| Total | 516 |
Out-of-mandate accessibility issues
Most complaints about a service provider’s failure to accommodate a customer’s accessibility requests are out of our mandate for the CCTS.
At the request of the CRTC and members of the accessibility community, we track when customers raise out-of-mandate accessibility issues about their service providers. We also refer these issues to the CRTC, which may have the authority to address them.
| Issue | Number |
|---|---|
| Customer Service – indifferent to customer’s disability | 160 |
| Accessibility-related accommodation issue, e.g. VRS, MRS, closed captioning or described video not available, accessible handset not offered, store accessibility issues, refused to provide Accessibility Plan | 102 |
| Policies and procedures, e.g. do not include accessibility information or accessibility policy or practice not honoured | 79 |
| Total | 341 |
The CRTC codes that we administer contain some accessibility-related requirements. These are within our mandate. The Wireless, Television Service Provider and Internet Codes require two kinds of accommodations:
- an extended trial period for individuals with disabilities
- contracts and related documents provided in an accessible format upon request.
For more information, see Reporting on CRTC Consumer Protection Codes of Conduct.
Analysis of closed complaints
Our operational statistics show that we closed 1,508 complaints in 2023-24. The following table breaks down the reasons for closing those complaints and refers to the relevant sections of the Procedural Code.
| Complaint | Issues | % of all closed complaints |
|---|---|---|
| Closed as duplicate | 200 | 13.3% |
| Customer withdrew complaint | 301 | 20.0% |
| Out-of-mandate after further information obtained | 28 | 1.3% |
| Section 9.1(b) Customer is not authorized to file complaint | 4 | 0.3% |
| Section 9.1(c) Complaint more appropriately handled by another agency | 17 | 1.1% |
| Section 9.1(d) Further investigation not warranted | 4 | 0.3% |
| Section 9.1(e) Customer not cooperative | 918 | 60.9% |
| Section 10.1 Service provider not offered opportunity to resolve | 2 | 0.1% |
| Section 10.2(b) Matter previously or currently with another agency | 2 | 0.1% |
| Section 10.3(a) Complaint filed outside time limits | 29 | 1.9% |
| Section 10.3(b) Facts arose prior to effective date | 3 | 0.2% |
| Total | 1,508 | 100% |
We close complaints under section 9.1(e) of our Procedural Code when a customer does not cooperate with our efforts to process and investigate the complaint. For example, we may close a complaint if the customer does not respond to our inquiries, provide required information, or refuses to engage with their service provider during the 20-day Initial Referral stage. We make several attempts to engage a customer to cooperate before closing a complaint.
Small business customer complaints
We can help small business customers whose monthly bill for all telecommunications services is normally under $2,500.
In 2023-24, we concluded 1,336 complaints from small business customers, an increase of 57% from last year. This represents 7% of all concluded complaints in 2023-24.
Those 1,336 concluded complaints from small business customers contained 2,842 issues. This represents a 53% increase in the number of issues from last year.
When we report our operational statistics, we include the data for all the complaints we handled during the year. However, not all complaints are the same. Complaints from small business customers often differ significantly from those of individual consumers. The following tables highlight the differences.
Billing issues are now the most-raised issue, overtaking contract disputes. In previous years, contract disputes were the most-raised issue by small business customers. In fact, contract disputes had consistently been the top issue since we began reporting the breakdown of individual consumers versus small business complaints in 2014-15. Billing issues now make up over 38% of all issues raised by small business customers, up from 29% proportionally last year.
| Issue category | Small business customers | Individual customers |
|---|---|---|
| Billing | 38.4% | 45.0% |
| Contract dispute | 31.1% | 23.3% |
| Service delivery | 27.7% | 28.0% |
| Credit management | 2.8% | 3.6% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
| Service type | Small business customers | Individual customers |
|---|---|---|
| Wireless | 42.3% | 52.6% |
| Internet | 33.0% | 28.2% |
| Home Phone/Local Exchange/VOIP Services | 23.4% | 6.8% |
| Long Distance | 1.2% | 0.6% |
Wireless services remain the most raised issues by small business customers; 42% of their issues are about wireless services.
Internet issues represent 33% of issues raised by small business customers and are disproportionately raised by small business customers compared to the 28% of internet issues raised by the individual customers.
| Issue | Small business customers | Individual customers |
|---|---|---|
| Disclosure issues | 14.4% | 13.1% |
| Incorrect charge for monthly price plan | 14.0% | 14.6% |
| Quality of service | 8.4% | 8.7% |
| Credit or refund not received | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Termination fee | 7.3% | 2.5% |
| Repair issues and appointments | 4.0% | 4.6% |
| Regular price increase of monthly price plans | 4.0% | 4.7% |
| Complete loss of service | 3.8% | 4.2% |
| Changes to the contract | 3.7% | 4.5% |
| Unable to cancel | 3.1% | 2.6% |
Compensation analysis
In cases that are resolved and those where we issue an Investigation Finding, customers may receive some form of compensation from their service provider. This compensation can take many forms, including the following:
- bill credits
- bill adjustments
- free or discounted products and services
- cash payments
We try to record the value of all compensation awarded to customers as a result of the CCTS process. This is challenging because, in many cases, we are not given the details of the resolution reached between the customer and the service provider. This happens mainly when cases are resolved at the Initial Referral stage.
From the information available to us, the total compensation awarded in 2023-24 was $3,817,736.43.
| Compensation range | Number of complaints | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| less than $100 | 3,774 | 33.8% |
| $100 – $499 | 5,607 | 50.3% |
| $500 – $999 | 1,171 | 10.5% |
| $1,000 – $4,999 | 560 | 5.0% |
| $5,000 or more | 43 | 0.4% |
| Total | 11,155 | 100% |
Performance standards
Each year, we set a goal to provide great service to customers, and we track our performance across various benchmarks. The following tables show how our performance this year compares to those benchmark targets.
This year, we updated our complaint-handling performance standards to reflect the changes we made to our process on May 23, 2023.
We are pleased to have met our performance targets for the contact centre and most complaint-handling standards this past year. This year, the CCTS received an unanticipated 38% surge in accepted complaints. As a result of process and technology changes introduced in May 2023, we were able to assess and accept complaints more quickly, leading to faster resolutions in most cases. However, our performance levels during the later stages of the complaint process, such as Conciliation and Investigation, fell well below our targets. We have since refined our processes and increased our capacity to boost efficiency and productivity in these stages. We expect to meet our complaint-handling performance targets in 2024-25.
Contact Centre
| Process | 2023‑24 | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Answer phone calls within 120 seconds | 80.1% | 80% |
| Process written communications within five business days | 80.2% | 80% |
Complaint handling
| Process | 2023‑24 | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Assess complaints to determine if they meet eligibility criteria within three business days | 84.1% | 80% |
| Complaints concluded across all stages within 60 days | 89.4% | 80% |
| Complaints concluded at Initial Referral stage within 30 days of acceptance | 93.9% | 80% |
| Proportion of complaints concluded at Initial Referral stage – 80.9% | ||
| Complaints concluded at Conciliation stage within 60 days of referral to Conciliation | 2.1% | 80% |
| Proportion of complaints concluded at Conciliation stage – 13.0% | ||
| Complaints concluded at Investigation stage within 90 days of referral to Investigation | 37.7% | 80% |
| Proportion of complaints concluded at Investigation stage – 5.9% | ||
Regional analysis
We receive complaints from customers across Canada. The map below shows the percentage of accepted complaints submitted by residents in each province and territory across Canada.
| Province | Complaints | Population* | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 2,159 | 10.7% | 4,842,523 | 11.8% | |
| British Columbia | 3,338 | 16.6% | 5,666,888 | 13.8% | |
| Manitoba | 464 | 2.3% | 1,485,955 | 3.6% | |
| New Brunswick | 377 | 1.9% | 849,168 | 2.1% | |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 190 | 0.9% | 543,141 | 1.3% | |
| Northwest Territories | 11 | 0.1% | 44,686 | 0.1% | |
| Nova Scotia | 442 | 2.2% | 1,071,498 | 2.6% | |
| Nunavut | 3 | 0.0% | 40,851 | 0.1% | |
| Ontario | 9,658 | 47.9% | 16,033,583 | 39.1% | |
| Prince Edward Island | 66 | 0.3% | 177,318 | 0.4% | |
| Quebec | 3,248 | 16.1% | 9,003,338 | 21.9% | |
| Saskatchewan | 182 | 0.9% | 1,233,068 | 3.0% | |
| Yukon | 9 | 0.1% | 46,353 | 0.1% | |
| Total | 20,147 | 100% | 41,038,370 | 100% | |
* Canada, Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0009-01 (formerly, CANSIM 051-0005)