The City Clerk’s Office mission is to build public trust and confidence in local government. Our primary services include administering the municipal election, managing the decision making process by supporting Council and committee meetings, making information accessible to the public while protecting privacy, providing leadership in matters of protocol, providing administrative support to Members of Council and their staff and processing registry licenses.
The City Clerk’s Office is committed to service excellence. We are continually working to improve what we do and how we do it. If you have a compliment or complaint, we want to hear from you.
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about the service, actions, or lack of action by a City Clerk’s Office business unit or staff.
Complaints may relate to the actions of an individual or to a City Clerk’s Office policy, process or procedure.
Examples include but are not limited to:
The City Clerk’s Office complaints procedure applies to complaints directly related to services and processes within the City Clerk’s Office jurisdiction.
Certain services and processes, which may be provided by the City Clerk’s Office or may relate to the services provided by the City Clerk’s Office, have a separate right of appeal, statutory remedy or prescribed procedure.
Complaints are reviewed on receipt and complainants are advised if an alternate complaint procedure applies. Contact the City Clerk’s Office if you are not sure about the proper channel to lodge your complaint or appeal.
A complaint may be received verbally (in person or telephone) or in writing (received by hand delivery, mail, or email).
Most complaints are received in-person at the point of service and are usually resolved promptly. If you have an issue, you can speak directly with someone in the service area, in person or by telephone during business hours. (Use our staff directory).
If you prefer, or if you are not satisfied with how your verbal complaint is handled, you can submit a written complaint by mail or email. You can use our complaint form. This form is for convenience and not a requirement for written complaints to be received and reviewed.
If someone else is writing on your behalf regarding a complaint, a representative consent form should also be submitted.
Please include as much detail as possible in your written complaint.
You may submit an anonymous complaint. Anonymous complaints are reviewed in the same manner as those with names included.
clerk@toronto.ca
Subject heading: City Clerk’s Office, Complaint
416-392-8016
City Clerk’s Office
City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.
1st floor, West
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
Attention: City Clerk’s Office, Complaint
City Clerk’s Office management staff review all written complaints. The information is treated as confidential to protect your privacy; however, you should be aware that in investigating a complaint, the circumstances may indirectly identify you (even if you wrote anonymously).
If you provide contact information, we will acknowledge that we have received your complaint within one working day if emailed, and within four working days if by mail. We will then inform you of any investigations or actions as a result.
If your concern is about a different division or must be handled by an external process, we will inform you.
The City Clerk’s Office complaint procedure provides for a 3-stage escalation process:
If you are not satisfied with the decision at any stage, we will advise you of options to escalate the complaint.
A verbal complaint to the service area is considered the first stage in the process. Complaints presented verbally to service staff on the frontline or to their supervisor are usually the best way to have issues resolved. Effort is made to resolve verbal complaints immediately to the satisfaction of the complainant without need for a formal written complaint. If the complaint is not resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant, they are advised that they may submit their complaint in writing.
All written complaints, even those not going through the first verbal complaint stage, begin at the second stage and are referred to the appropriate manager for review and response. Where the complainant is not satisfied with the response of the manager, they may request escalation.
The third stage is an escalation to senior management. Where a complainant is dissatisfied at the end of the third stage, they are advised of the opportunity for external review by the Ombudsman.
After completing the City of Toronto’s complaints process, if you feel you have been treated unfairly or received unfair service, you can contact Ombudsman Toronto.
There are a number of legislated services provided or facilitated by the City Clerk’s Office that have external mechanisms to review complaints.
The legislative decisions of City Council are not reviewable by the City Clerk or any other City Official and generally, must be resolved by a court or tribunal with statutory authority
Most appeals from the Toronto Committee of Adjustment go to the Toronto Local Appeal Body
Some types of decisions may be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal, such as:
We welcome public comments, suggestions and compliments
If you have comments or suggestions about how we can improve our service, we want to hear from you. All feedback will be reviewed by management staff to determine what action may be required. A staff person will respond to written comments/suggestions, if requested by the customer.
If you had a positive experience, compliments about our staff are always welcomed and will be forwarded to the appropriate supervisor to celebrate our staff’s work.
clerk@toronto.ca
Subject heading: City Clerk’s Office, Comments/Compliments
416-392-8016
City Clerk’s Office
City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.
1st floor, West
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
Attention: City Clerk’s Office, Comments/Compliments