Commissioner’s message

This Annual Report comes at a time when the focus on the role of the CCTS and its work continues to sharpen. The federal government has provided clear direction to the CRTC, the telecom industry regulator, to enhance and protect the rights of telecom consumers, and specifically to strengthen the CCTS’ ability to better fulfill its mandate.

In response to this direction, the CRTC has developed a Consumer Protections Action Plan and is taking steps to improve its Consumer Protection Codes. It has identified “enhancing the effectiveness of the CCTS” as a key objective. It also has several proceedings in the planning stage or in progress to meet these goals.

Telecom markets are forever changing. Social science tells us that humans struggle with change. Over the past few years, the CCTS itself has undergone significant change. A couple of years ago, we made transformative changes to our complaint-handling processes and to supporting technologies. Those changes have been highly successful.

In October 2024, the leadership of our Board of Directors changed, and a new Board Chair (Trish Kiley) was appointed. That’s worked out well, too. They say things come in threes. And now the organization faces another significant change. By the time you read this, my term as Commissioner & CEO will have concluded. I anticipate this change will also work out nicely.

I am very pleased that the CCTS Board appointed my long-time colleague, Josée Bidal Thibault, as the new Commissioner and CEO. I have worked with Josée since 2008 and am very familiar with her many strengths. Josée is not afraid of a challenge, and she will do a wonderful job of leading the CCTS into whatever the future holds for the organization in this ever-evolving environment.

Of course, some things don’t seem to change much. In 2024–25, we accepted a new record-high number of complaints and successfully resolved 86% of them while meeting or exceeding most of our complaint-handling performance targets.

It was an honour to have been appointed as the first CCTS Commissioner in August 2008. It has been a privilege to continue in that role through to the end of 2025. In looking back on those 17-plus years, I have had the pleasure of working with countless dedicated individuals whose primary goal has been to solve problems for Canadians. I have had the opportunity to engage with so many talented, interesting, and committed people, including co-workers, Board members, regulators, service provider representatives, consumer groups, accessibility groups, journalists, and of course, Canadian consumers, who are at the heart of the work we do. My interactions with you have been informative and inspiring. Thank you all for your contributions to the CCTS, and for enriching my experience as its leader.

It’s clear that at this moment we have the attention of the government and the regulator, and that senior industry executives are paying close attention to our work. That’s because the work we do at the CCTS is important and makes a real difference to many Canadians every day. I urge you to continue this work, always ensuring that the best interests of Canadians and our role in the industry are at the forefront.

I wish you every success.

Sincerely,

Howard Maker
Commissioner & CEO, CCTS