The Customer Experience Transformation (CET) Program is focused on modernizing City services by providing convenient, multi-channel options, and accessible customer experiences (e.g. Digital Self-Service, Contact Centers and In-person Service Hubs).
The City is assessing services, business processes, new standards and policies, and ways to accelerate digitization to ensure that the public receives simple, consistent and efficient experiences that are customer-centric, inclusive, accessible, and secure.
The City is currently investing in over 90 projects across divisions to improve service delivery, with further opportunities identified for corporate strategy, coordination, and standardization. The City’s current approach is to:
- Deliver high-priority, immediate actions to support the City’s COVID-19 recovery and reopening; and
- Design a new operating structure and establish digital foundations of modernized and inclusive service delivery.
Current Status
In the immediate term, the City’s response has included:
- Reopening accessible in-person service counters across Civic buildings, including triage and greeting services for wayfinding. In 2022, in-person counter services have served 3,000 to 4,000 individuals per week. Top services utilized are tax and utility payments (Revenue Services), parking violations (Court Services), parking permits (Transportation Services) and marriage licences (City Clerks).
- Launching digital booking platforms to make appointments for key services (e.g. Marriage Licenses, Permits). Currently, 20% of residents are using appointment booking tool to schedule their service.
- Launching a digital payments platform, MyTorontoPay, with three online services (Property Tax, Utilities, and Parking Violations). To date, 113,000 customer accounts have been created and 175,000 payable transactions completed.
- Launching a new 311 platform that digitized over 600 services, increasing available service request types on the self-service options by 500%.
Going forward, the CET Program is developing an action plan that addresses how customer experience is governed and coordinated to fulfill the City’s vision. This includes:
- Establishing an operating structure with an executive lead, dedicated team, and functions focusing on Customer Experience Strategy and Planning, Project Delivery, Channel Planning and Integration, and Operations to drive City-wide standardization.
- Delivering modernization projects such as channel enhancements (Digital, Contact Centres, and Service Hubs) and digital solutions (payments, service requests, etc.) to be leveraged corporately. The pandemic saw a channel shift from in-person to digital, allowing the City to optimize counters by 47%.
- Launching a new customer experience brand for a “One-Toronto” approach.
Background & Context
In 2009, the City launched 311 to improve public service delivery. A critical next step was the web revitalization project, which transitioned the City’s website to be service-based and customer-centric.
Since 2019, the City has developed a new customer experience vision, a new target operating structure, catalogued all 400+ core services, and launched a transformation program to modernize City service delivery across channels of choice.
This includes the Customer Experience Transformation and Innovation (CXi) team, which has advanced the City’s capabilities in service research and design and business processes engineering, and partnering with Technology Services to apply this to technology solutions that meet customers’ needs. This is accomplished through human centred design, lean process analysis and data insights to design better services.
These advancements, coupled with the City’s target model, are intended to remove divisional silos, scale digital capabilities, standardize across channel experience, and drive service equity and inclusion.
The model is designed around six principles:
- One Toronto brand
- Clear ownership and accountability across divisions
- Enable digital adoption journey
- Equitable and accessible customer experience
- Drive operational efficiency by improving processes and coordination
- Improve employee experience with training, resources, and shared data
Truth, Justice & Reconciliation
The CET Program’s objective to review and standardize customer experience processes, policies, physical space, and technologies will help identify and remove systemic barriers for Indigenous Peoples via direct consultation, engagement, and feedback with Indigenous partners.
For example, the CET Program’s City Hall First Floor Re-Design project has dedicated space in the preliminary design for conducting meetings with Indigenous Communities. The team will engage directly with the Indigenous Affairs Office and Indigenous Peoples to ensure final designs for City Hall First Floor are appropriate and meaningful.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
It is critical for the City to identify the barriers that impact Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving groups the most in accessing services and civic engagement.
The City’s approach is focused on five components:
- User Experience Design: Where the City co-creates its digital services, channels, and physical space with the public.
- Service Choice/Options: Where appropriate provide multiple service channel options, especially for people with disabilities, people who need language support, those without access to digital infrastructure or those who have low digital literacy, and people who may have a lack of trust in government institutions.
- Welcoming Spaces: Create modernized in-person service hub experiences and design spaces for public uses and civic engagement, with universally accessible dedicated spaces for arts/culture, events, community meetings, innovation, co-working, etc.
- Accessible Technology: Where the City reviews, assesses and establishes new standards for accessibility of technology and digital solutions.
- Communications/Marketing: Where the City reaches out to equity-deserving groups to promote services, programs, events/activities and increases civic participation.
Key Contacts
Josie Scioli
Deputy City Manager, Corporate Services
Josie.Scioli@toronto.ca, 416-397-4156
Robbie Grewal
Director, Strategic Policy & Planning
Robbie.Grewal@toronto.ca, 647-268-4533
Additional Resources
- Innovative Partnership to Accelerate Digital Services with Payments (EX23.2)
- Towards Recovery and Building a Renewed Toronto (EX17.1)
- Digital Infrastructure Plan (EX12.2)
- Multi-Year Accessibility Plan 2020-2025 (EX11.21)
