City Manager’s Awards of Excellence

2017 Recipients

Leadership: Criminal Justice Pathways Project

Employment & Social Services; Social Development, Finance & Administration

A criminal record or even an encounter with the criminal justice system can be a significant barrier to employment or training opportunities. These challenges are even greater for marginalized, racialized and youth populations, who are over-represented in the criminal justice system. Through the Criminal Justice Pathways Project, the City is providing opportunities to those who have lost hope in the future.

The Employment & Social Services and Social Development, Finance & Administration divisions worked together to create an interdivisional project team tasked with undertaking an extensive review of current practices and developing service pathways to support successful reintegration through access to vital employment, training and social supports.

Senior leadership put emphasis on creating a culture that values diversity and encourages innovation and helped to ensure that this project was embedded in organizational values. Over 200 management staff were provided with coaching to lead and facilitate conversations with staff, and a comprehensive peer-led training plan was delivered to over 2,000 staff in 2017. This project enabled the City to undertake a leadership role by addressing participants’ immediate needs, by creating pathways to prosperity and driving systemic change by advocating for changes to the criminal justice system.

So far, 90% of participants have declared an increase in confidence and motivation, and 90% have transitioned into employment, internships or further training.

Customer Experience: Toronto’s APS – Simple, Fair and Fast Dispute Resolutions

Legal Services; Revenue Services; Court Services

The Administrative Penalty System for Parking Violations is known at the City by its short name “APS.” Through the APS, the City now offers an easier, faster and more efficient resolution process for dealing with parking violations.

Prior to developing this new system, parking violations were governed under the Provincial Offences Act and involved a process that was quite lengthy for customers. A working group, led by Legal Services, Revenue Services and Court Services, with support from Information & Technology, Strategic Communications and Toronto Police Parking Enforcement, worked together to review, assess and determine the best solution for dealing with each aspect of the process, including customer service, the back-end technical needs, the legal aspects and operations and staffing.

The City modelled the program with customers in mind and also ensured that customer feedback was incorporated into the program design. To better serve customers, the City now offers service 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a self-service portal or in person at a service counter during regular working hours.

Parking violation disputes are now generally resolved in under 90 days as opposed to 12 months under the previous system. The City of Toronto was the first municipality to move to an online system for the resolution of parking disputes in Ontario and other municipalities across Canada are now looking to the City’s APS as a benchmark for service delivery.

Employee Experience: HIGH FIVE Project

Parks, Forestry & Recreation

Parks, Forestry & Recreation’s (PFR) Community Recreation Branch provides high-quality recreation programs to Torontonians. In June of 2016, the Branch launched a project to implement HIGH FIVE, which is Parks and Recreation Ontario’s quality standard for recreation and sport programs for children. The HIGH FIVE Project’s ultimate goal was to help Community Recreation strengthen the quality of children’s recreation programming and deliver positive recreation experiences that support healthy child development.

The HIGH FIVE Project raised the bar in terms of employee engagement and collaboration, program quality and participant experience. A strong consultative and collaborative approach was taken so that staff would inform all new initiatives, as well as take ownership of them, celebrate successes and champion the values. Staff were engaged in a variety of ways, including newsletters, an internal website, regular project updates, staff spotlights and recognition events, a HIGH FIVE Innovation Fun Team and training.

Management consulted with staff in the development of 12 new operating standards and processes, and team meetings were held to engage employees branch-wide and enhance consultation. Staff are now trained in the HIGH FIVE Principles of Healthy Child Development and on new processes for the evaluation of recreation programs. PFR’s approach to HIVE FIVE accreditation successfully considered employee engagement and resulted in a shift in the culture of Community Recreation.

Innovation: Fleet Modernization & Automated Fuel System Integration

Fleet Services

In 2017, the Fleet Services Division explored how to achieve an automated, real-time integration between their maintenance information system and a fuel management solution to improve their service and realize savings.

Fleet Services released an automated solution at 23 of the City’s vehicle fuel sites that integrated their fleet and fuel management system with specialized software to provide access to fuel tank information remotely. Through the new integrated system, the fuel operation team can now remotely maintain, monitor and resolve fueling issues in real-time. The new system also delivers vehicle information to the Fleet Operation team, allowing them to access the automated information from anywhere to manage and efficiently perform vehicle analysis and maintenance.

By providing improved vehicle management solutions to City Divisions such as Fire Services, Paramedic Services and Parks Forestry & Recreation, the system allows Toronto Public Service staff to focus on performing their core duties, instead of spending valuable time fueling and servicing vehicles.

Through the time savings achieved in the efficiencies delivered by the new system, Fleet Services estimates $1 million in cost avoidance every year. City of Toronto’s Fleet Services is now recognized as an innovative leader in fuel management in North America.

Partners: Toronto Indigenous Health Advisory Circle

Toronto Public Health

The Toronto Indigenous Health Advisory Circle was established with the recognition of “Indigenous Health in Indigenous Hands.”

Toronto is home to the largest and most diverse urban Indigenous population in Ontario. Yet, Indigenous people in Toronto face a disproportionate number of challenges in accessing culturally safe health services, as well as other health risks.

To address these issues, Toronto Public Health engaged with over 15 Toronto-based Indigenous organizations, with the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network, other local health organizations, as well as other orders of government, to develop the Toronto Indigenous Health Advisory Circle. The Circle and the partnership that it represents is the first of its kind at the City of Toronto.

In 2016, the Circle released the Toronto Indigenous Health Strategy, which presented a vision of a thriving and healthy Indigenous community in Toronto and provided Toronto Public Health and partner organizations with directions to honour the principles of reconciliation and self-determination. Strong relationships and trust between a Circle of eight Indigenous leaders, Toronto Public Health and their partners are vital to the success of this partnership.

The Toronto Indigenous Health Advisory Circle provides the City of Toronto with a model of partnership that reflects the value of self-determination espoused in the Aboriginal Statement of Commitment.

2016 Recipients

Leadership: Gender Inclusive Washroom Policy & Campaign

Toronto Public Health

The Gender Inclusive Washroom Policy and Campaign creates a safe space for people to use the washroom that matches their gender identity and/or expression, regardless of their sex assigned at birth. This initiative is the first of its kind at the City of Toronto and responds to concerns raised by the trans community with regards to safe washroom access.

Toronto Public Health (TPH) developed the policy through extensive research, consultation and collaboration, and implemented it through comprehensive training for staff and awareness campaigns. Toronto Public Health managers trained their staff during team meetings. They were given a comprehensive policy orientation guide and could access a specially trained TPH Positive Space Ambassador for support.

TPH Senior Management regularly followed up with their managers to ensure all teams were trained before the end of 2016. Additionally, a campaign poster was placed on every washroom door where TPH is the sole tenant. This signals to trans clients that: we see you, we serve you and we want to ensure your safety.

The success of this initiative was a collaborative effort, built upon strong employee engagement, with key leadership from Toronto Public Health Senior Management, their Positive Space Champion, the Gender Diversity Work Group, and Positive Space Ambassadors.

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Customer Experience: Making Registration Better

Parks, Forestry and Recreation, Information & Technology

Working together as a cross-divisional team, the Parks, Forestry and Recreation (PFR) and Information and Technology divisions embarked on a strategy to “Make Registration Better“. This included improvements to the customer service model, the parks programming registration webpage, and technical support systems. They collaborated to establish new ways of working together, creating a business transformation that would impact how they deliver services in the future.

Using feedback from the public and staff, the project team mapped the customer experience and identified pain points. Based on internal and external feedback the team knew that they needed to provide residents with better access to the system and to the call center, provide clearer communications and information, and in-person support.

To deliver an excellent customer service experience, the team ensured that the public were engaged throughout the process to ensure their needs and voices were heard. The team not only focused on improving the online customer experience, but all access points to recreation services. PFR also increased customer service hours leading up to peak registration periods. Telephone and in-person translation services were also boosted to provide greater access to customers who required communications in languages other than English.

The improvements have been noticed and the public has been sending in their compliments. The time to complete 20,000 registrations was reduced from 3 hours to just 15 minutes, and customer satisfaction rates have increased.

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Employee Experience: Service Delivery Model (SDM) Renewal

Toronto Employment & Social Services

Toronto Employment and Social Services (TESS) provides employment supports, financial benefits and social supports to Toronto residents on a daily basis. In February 2015, with the objective to improve client experience, TESS conducted a thorough review of its Service Delivery Model which is how services and supports are delivered to its clients.

TESS took a user-centred approach to create the new divisional Access Model. They engaged and empowered front-line staff to not only champion change, but also to own and drive it. The best elements of the prototype designs were refined to develop a standardized service access model, which was piloted at other locations. But most importantly, this new model was created by the people who use and deliver social assistance: City of Toronto frontline staff and their clients. Using a co-design approach, a cross-section of over 70 frontline staff including caseworkers, family support workers, support assistants and technical experts drew from their years of experience delivering Ontario Works to redesign the division’s new front end service access model.

As a result, allowing TESS staff to take an active role in designing this new model created a shared sense of purpose, empathy for each group’s experience, greater trust in the model itself and a strong focus on pragmatic outcomes. The project has had a profound impact on how the division approaches organizational change and staff engagement.

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Innovation: Embracing Disruptive Technology and the Sharing Economy: Implementation of new Vehicle-for-Hire Legislation and Technology

Municipal Licensing & Standards, Information & Technology

The City of Toronto’s new Vehicle-for-Hire legislation was approved by City Council in May 2016 through the adoption of over a hundred recommendations, concluding a two-year Ground Transportation Review undertaken by the Municipal Licensing & Standards (ML&S) Division. This represented a landmark policy change for the City’s ground transportation industry, establishing a new business model that reflects technological innovations that have disrupted the existing taxi industry and regulates the new private transportation industry.

With the launch of UberX in the City of Toronto and the emergence of the sharing economy globally, ML&S was faced with the challenge of regulating a new entrant in the taxicab market and at the same time reframing the way the taxicab industry was regulated. ML&S, in collaboration with I&T, set out to automate all private transportation company drivers’ licenses and renewal, which would in turn create significant efficiencies. The innovative Vehicle-for-Hire legislation was the catalyst for significant regulatory and business transformation and represents the first 100% digital process for business license registration. Furthermore, this initiative has modernized the City’s ability to cope with new emerging technologies that enhance the quality of life for citizens, businesses and visitors in the City of Toronto.

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Partners: Specialized Program for Interdivisional Enhanced Response to Vulnerability (SPIDER)

Social Development, Finance & Administration (SDFA); Municipal Licensing & Services (MLS) and Toronto Public Health (TPH)

The Specialized Program for Interdivisional Enhanced Response to Vulnerability – known as “SPIDER” – was launched in 2014. This first-of-its-kind program in Canada is modelled on international and Canadian best practices.

The purpose of SPIDER is to enhance partnerships that improve the effectiveness of City Divisions and Agencies in working together to reduce acutely elevated health and safety risks affecting vulnerable Torontonians who are facing issues such as poverty and isolation, and are often experiencing challenges related to the social determinants of health. SPIDER has provided an accountable mechanism that enhances how City divisions, as well as community organizations, communicate with one another to better understand the situation, the risks involved and the resources required to solve the issue.

The initiative was collaborative in its design from the outset. Through the partnership model, SPIDER has responded to over 100 complex situations of elevated health and safety risk. Referral relationships are now formalized between City divisions and partner agency staff. The collaborative tools that SPIDER developed are now available to all staff in all participating divisions and agencies. Common terminology, reporting approaches, and information-sharing protocols are now in place to ensure quality and consistency of services in risk situations.

This collaboration has clearly improved outcomes for residents and better serves the public. SPIDER has been praised for its “bold, imaginative, and courageous ways of cutting across silos and putting the right expertise in the right place.”

2015 Recipients

2014 Recipients

Equity, Diversity & Human Rights Winner: Respect@TPH Campaign

The Respect@TPH campaign is an upstream approach to reduce incidents of harassment and discrimination by promoting a healthy workplace culture based on mutual respect. In 2014 the City’s Human Rights and Anti-Harassment Policy was amended to include expectations for respect and civility. Respect@TPH was launched on October 1st, 2014 to highlight this policy change. Our series of seven posters is part of an ongoing strategy to strengthen a climate of civility, inclusion and human rights at Toronto Public Health. Staff voices and images are central to this campaign. Through an online survey staff expressed how respect comes alive at TPH. Responses were developed into campaign messages, along with practical tips for modelling respect. A discussion guide accompanied the campaign to help teams develop group norms for positive dynamics. In-service training and group facilitation was part of the campaign roll out.Campaign messages promote workplace equity. For example:

• Building bridges across difference rather than erecting barriers;
• Showing compassion and resisting stereotypes;
• Creating safety for people’s diverse social identities;
• Being an ally by speaking up against harassment and discrimination.

Through this campaign the Access & Equity unit has enhanced its service delivery to TPH teams (our internal clients) by:

• Providing tailored and engaging team-based civility and human rights workshops; and,
• Facilitating team discussions to establish group norms which promote compliance with the City’s Human Rights and Anti-Harassment Policy.

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Divisional Project Winner: Welcome to Parenting – Online Prenatal Program

Welcome to Parenting (WTP) is Toronto Public Health’s (TPH) free online prenatal program available to all pregnant families living in the city. The program offers in-depth information to prepare parents-to-be for parenthood in a fun, interactive and diverse manner. WTP enhances client accessibility to prenatal education as it is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any location with computer and internet access, with the additional benefit of no waiting lists or travel required. By offering an online prenatal program TPH has tripled its client reach in 2014 versus the former in-person evening prenatal classes. Program reach has also been successful, based on registration postal code mapping as clients are participating from the entire city, including the Neighbourhood Improvement Areas. Participants are satisfied with the online prenatal program as the majority would recommend WTP.WTP is client-focussed, convenient, and meets diverse learning styles with the flexibility for clients to learn at their own pace, from any location, with computer and internet access. There are opportunities for clients to connect with experts in the field who respond their questions via the Parent Zone or e-chat.

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Cross Corporate Winner: Online Lookups for Property Tax, Utility and Parking Tickets

Revenue Services, with the help of Corporate Information & Technology Division and the Web Revitalization Project, has created online account lookups for property tax, utility and parking tickets. The lookups provide residents a fast, easy and secure way of getting information about utility and property tax accounts as well as the status of parking tickets. Residents and property owners can view details of their account, including account balances, upcoming billings and due dates, information on previous payments, as well as the status of parking tickets, outstanding fine amounts, scheduled court dates for parking ticket trials, etc.

The lookups can be accessed anywhere, anytime from a computer or any web-enabled mobile device. By putting up-to-date account information in the hands of our customers, and making this information easily available on a 24/7 basis, residents will no longer have to call or visit the City to confirm important account details. This will improve customer service by allowing City staff to better accommodate more complex requests for information or assistance. The new lookups fulfill the City’s goals of enhancing online service delivery and improving customer service and support the City of Toronto’s eService Strategic Plan and Strategic Actions 2013-2018. The Utility lookup was launched in December 2014, the Parking Ticket lookup on April 10, 2015, and the Property Tax lookup went live on May 21, 2015.