assistant

Government of Canada, Canada Revenue Agency

Working at the CRA is a very good job for a work from home role. The job is demanding so the perks to be able to walk away from the phones at times is a very welcomed way to look at the work. At times there are meetings where there are not constructive or really explain much of what is happening with the agency, its welcomed as its time off the phone, but it feels like it should be more useful. Also as it relates to career growth there is a materials for you to review on your downtime. Downtime does happen from time to time but for the most part, especially during a benefit period there is no time to even work on anything career building. A lot of the time though my role as a taxpayer agent, any kinds of learning that I got in order to do my job was not given to me because I progress or interviewed but more so given to me as an addition to the role with no extra pay. I would suggest people in finance roles to apply as there is a lot of advancement for these individuals. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Lots of training and assistance.
Clear communication always available with team leader or resource officer.
Monday to Friday schedule. 
Decent hourly pay.
Internal job postings.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Meeting production. 
Starts off easy, but ramps up quickly. Monitored daily and reviewed weekly by team leader.
Gets easier with experience.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment is great. At worst, you deal with desk sharing with somebody that is messy.
Culture is inclusive, with plenty of events happening weekly.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Show up, check in with team leader, turn on your computer, enter data for 8 hours. 
You get two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute unpaid lunch.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Well managed for a large public sector organization.  Culture is important, and security and privacy are paramount.  Everything is done by or above the book.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The training is intense and the responsibilities are high, especially when it comes to maintaining privacy protocols.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I was remote, but Teams meetings made me feel like part or something bigger than myself.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Log on to the IT system, connect to the servers, check email, and then get on the phone to help taxpayers.  You get a half hour for lunch and two fifteen minute breaks.  The day started at 10:00am until 6:00pm.  You must log off all systems promptly at 6:00pm, unless you are on an active call helping someone.

Working in the IT Dept was very limiting, coming from an MSP background, usually you have the "Keys to the castle" but not here. Your wings are clipped and you are very much expected to stay in your swimlane. There are things in your wheelhouse and things outside, you don't do another person's job. (But you will be expected to pick up your coworker's slack)
Advancement opportunities are only reserved for those who work in Ottawa or on teams based out of Ottawa. 
You often have to put up with unglamorous work and non novel work but you do it for pretty good pay(it'll often be better out in the private world) but the retirement pension is what everyone is after. You just have to do your time for 30 years. 

Management is terrible, they may say you have flexibility when it comes to family/work balance but they will use it against you in your reviews especially during COVID with someone with kids under 5 - its all contractual and they will lay you off and than call you back so you never become permanent. By doing this, you get a break in your contract and never become permanent. Some people have been on contract for 6-10 years and were let go eventually as newer agents cost about 7-8k less a year. Money is ok but you are working for like 7-8 months in an year and on EI for the remainder with the hope that they will call you back - if you are someone who needs consistency and growth, this is not the place. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
2 days work from home.
Federal government job so people don’t judge in community that you are not so good / smart/ average etc.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
They change policies and kick you out any time. No job security. Permanent employees like managers and TLs enjoy how their seat is secured so they treat you like a servant.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic environment. Always under stress and threat of losing job.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful. Answer this , that and TLs bombard with expectations everyday.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Work week are only 37.5 hours/week. Unionized environmnent

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Being exposed to federal budget cuts.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The environment is extremely toxic. Employee morale has never been lower, leading to a stressfull working relationships with management.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
There is constant chaos regarding politics. Management consistently demonstrates a lack of leadership skills.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The salary is the only thing good about this job 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Trying to figure out what rules each team leader actually follows.  Trying to be a robot agent with zero empathy

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It's deceiving.  They say one thing and do another. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You spend yor day talking to people about their tax issues.  Follow a strick set of rules and waste everyones time reading procedures on EVERY  call regardless of how minute it is.

Generally speaking, the government has veered towards using using processes over analysis limiting the use for economics, data scientist, despite their claims most of management is profoundly numerically, illiterate and tries to manage it through the relationships so it’s unlikely that your work is going to be highlighted unless you rarely get one of those directors that have that has graduated to experience economic Eco

Loved my time working for CRA. There are opportunities for advancement if you show you are there to work and if you know the right people or toss the dice with luck. Permanant positions are very rare so there isn't job security or benefits. Like most companies CRA hires by contract to avoid paying benefits. CRA does have very well paying positions though and often rehire on contracts. 

Working at Government of Canada, Canada Revenue Agency: company overview and reviews

Government of Canada, Canada Revenue Agency

Government of Canada, Canada Revenue Agency ratings

Popular jobs at Government of Canada, Canada Revenue Agency

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected