The Canada Revenue Agency has appointed a chief service officer, Mireille Laroche, Diane Lebouthillier, minister of national revenue, announced Monday.
In the newly created role, Laroche will be charged with leading the CRA’s “service transformation agenda,” which is focused on improving the experience for taxpayers.
Included in this mandate is a series of consultations with Canadians, which will “build upon the success” of the CRA’s Serving You Better consultations with small and medium businesses, the agency says in a news release. The consultations will be conducted with the public online and in-person during tax season.
In addition, the CRA will hold “design jams” with key stakeholders and users, to foster thinking around the “co-creation” of service improvements. It will also establish an external expert advisory panel that will “advise on emerging trends and practices in service design and delivery.”
“The appointment of a new chief service officer and the launch of these consultations demonstrate the CRA’s commitment to listening to Canadians, changing how it operates, and improving its services by putting Canadians at the centre of everything we do,” Lebouthillier says in a statement.
Laroche was also appointed as the assistant commissioner of the CRA’s service, innovation and integration branch, as well as the role of chief data officer, in September.
She joined the CRA in September 2014 as the deputy assistant ommissioner of the collections and verification branch, and became the assistant commissioner of the appeals branch on April 1, 2016.
Prior to joining the CRA, Laroche was the acting assistant deputy minister of the processing and payment services branch at Service Canada.
From 2011 to 2013, she served as the director general of employment insurance policy with the former Employment and Social Development Canada.
Ms. Laroche began her career in the public service in 1996 with the Department of Finance Canada.