Complaints & Compliments About City Services

The City of Toronto wants to hear from you. We welcome feedback on your experience, our processes, decisions, services and staff. We use feedback from you to monitor and improve our services for the benefits of all our customers and the public.

To view this page in another language, please visit the translation page, where you can choose from a list of 51 languages or call 311 to get information about City services in more than 180 languages.

How to Provide Your Feedback:

STEP 1: Share your complaint or compliment with the appropriate Division

If you have feedback regarding a City service, policy, program or staff member, you can make a complaint or compliment to the division or office responsible for that service.

To provide feedback to a division, please visit the Staff Directory, Divisions & Customer Service page to find the appropriate divisional complaints and compliments process.

STEP 2: Escalate your complaint to the City Manager’s Office

If you have escalated your complaint through the divisional process up to the appropriate Deputy City Manager and are not satisfied with the resolution, you can send your complaint including all documentation to the City Manager’s Office.

STEP 3: Escalate your complaint to the Ombudsman Toronto

If you have completed the City’s internal complaints process (Steps 1 & 2) and are unsatisfied with the resolution, please contact Ombudsman Toronto. Ombudsman Toronto is the office of last resort for concerns about City services and administrative unfairness.

 

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction related to a City of Toronto program, service, or staff member, where a customer believes that the City or its staff has not provided a service experience to the customer’s satisfaction at the point of service delivery and a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.

For the purpose of this policy, a Complaint can be about one or more of the following categories:

  • Divisional Policy, Process, Procedures
  • Staff
  • Access to Service
  • Timeliness of Service
  • Outcome
  • Quality of Service
  • Standard of Service
  • Charges
  • Agents

A customer complaint is distinct from,

  • Enquiry: A general or specific request for service or request for information regarding a City of Toronto product or service made by a customer that is resolved at the point of service delivery
  • Feedback: An opinion, comment and expression of interest in a City of Toronto program of service by a customer
  • Compliment: An expression of approval for a City of Toronto service, staff member, program, product or process
  • Suggestion: An idea submitted to the City of Toronto by a customer with the aim of improving services, programs, products or processes

Some complaints are exempt from these Guidelines, including,

  • Anonymous complaints: Anonymous complaints are difficult, if not impossible, to assess or investigate and will not be dealt with through the complaint handling process
  • Complaints by employees: Alternative procedures are available to employees to initiate complaints within the organization
  • Complaints about services for which 311 provides service request numbers, such as missed garbage pick-up, no water service, etc.
  • Appeals

 

Once you have submitted your complaint to a division, you can expect an acknowledgement of receipt within 2 business days. If an informal resolution isn’t possible, the complaint will be logged for formal investigation, according to the Division’s complaints policy. Each Division has its own complaints procedure and standards. Please refer to the appropriate divisional procedure for more information.

Providing negative feedback or making a complaint will not affect your services. We welcome feedback from the public. We will attempt to resolve all complaints but cannot guarantee all complainants will be satisfied with the resolution.

You can expect:

  • To be treated fairly, with dignity and respect
  • To receive professional, prompt and polite service

We commit to:

  • Fair and respectful follow-up and investigations
  • Providing a clear rationale for all decisions
  • Explaining your options if you are dissatisfied with how your complaint was handled
  • Acknowledging and resolving all complaints in a timely manner

The complaints process must:

Complaints will be dealt with in a confidential manner according to the Municipal Freedom of the Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). Information will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Act.