Improved government e-services appeals to Canadians – but only if they’re free

It's safe to assume that dealing with Service Canada is not an experience many Canadians look forward to. Standing in line is about as enjoyable as sitting in rush-hour traffic, mailing an application is far from a quick delivery, and listening to elevator music while you're on hold is not a fun way to use your smartphone.

As a result, Canadians are developing a preference for the online alternative. Government e-services just might be the best thing since online banking, and Canadians across the country would love to see more of these digital services available. We just don't want to pay for them.

A study from PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada found that while Canadians have embraced the government services online, more than 70 per cent of the 3,150 Canadians surveyed would not pay for new e-services, reports The Globe and Mail.

According to the study, about 50 per cent of respondents go online to access government services "often" or "all of the time." That's quite a few more than the 33 per cent who prefer to go in person, the 16 per cent who are partial to sending applications in the mail and the nine per cent who use the local kiosks.

"It (the study) starts to highlight what Canadian governments need to start to think about to improve their delivery (of government services)," states Domenic Belmonte, associate partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada. "I think Canadian governments have done a very good job up to this point.... The next issue for them is how do they build on those successes."

The first step might be increasing the awareness of these government e-services, as nearly 50 per cent of those surveyed were unaware of their online options. Belmonte believes increasing awareness is one of the challenges that governments face, adding that more needs to be done to promote these digital services.

But the study didn't simply highlight the issues, it presented respondents with potential solutions, including automatic notifications.

More than 80 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they would be interested in receiving messages — via email or cellphone — that would notify them of available online government services that may be applicable. For example, newly-made parents would receive an electronic message sharing information on how to tackle the necessary government paperwork. And if that service is available online, chances are an automatic notification would spare the parents of an unnecessary trip to the local Service Canada office.

The breadth of government services available online vary across the country, which means new parents in Saskatchewan might not have the online options as Ontarians. Some provinces allow residents to apply for birth certificates online, while others require their citizens to submit an application by mail or in person.

Which is why the survey proposed local-based messages, an improvement to the concept of automatic notifications. The idea is that Canadians would receive notifications based on their whereabouts, a service more than one third of respondents said they were "definitely interested" in.

The study is sure to encourage governments across the country to build on this burgeoning digital trend. Adding more government services to the online slate will certainly make for shorter lines, less mail in an already cluttered system, and fewer callers listening to Kenny G covers as they wait for the next available operator.