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Complaints and Appeals Office (CAO) Service Standards

The Complaints and Appeals Office (CAO) does not have the legislative authority to reconsider, confirm, vary or cancel a regulatory decision

The CAO continues to review service-related complaints and may assist in clarifying applicable regulatory requirements and CFIA policies. Regulated parties that disagree with a regulatory decision should continue to discuss their concerns with a CFIA inspector.

Service standards are an important element of servicemanagement excellence. They help clarify expectations for clients andemployees, enable performance management, and support client satisfaction. Measuring these services to ensure the timelydelivery of programs is an important element of the CAO's service managementcommitment.

The CAO has a service standard for the acknowledgement of receipt of all complaints, comments andcompliments:

This table shows the service standard for the acknowledgement of receipt of all complaints, comments and compliments
Service Service Standard
Receipt of complaints, compliments, or comments 2 business days

The CAO also has service standards regarding the amount of time needed to review acomplaint. The time periods shown in the table below begin from the datethat the CAO determines that a complaint review request is complete, and allsupporting documentation has been received by the CAO.

This table shows service standards regarding the amount of time needed to review a complaint
Complaint Type Service Standard
Regulatory (non-complex) 30 business days
Service 30 business days
Regulatory (complex)* Based on the level of complexity. Complainants will be notified within 5 business days following the opening call if the 30 day standard is expected to be exceeded.

The CAO aims to meet these standards 90% of the time.

The CAO is continually modernizing and streamlining itsprocesses to allow for efficient, accessible, and timely services. The CAOservice standards will be reviewed annually and will be adjusted as required.

The CAO will report on results of meeting the performancetargets once per year. This information will be shared with stakeholders in theCAO Annual Report and posted on the CAO website.

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