Complaints made to Toronto’s Ombudsman have increased by more than 150 per cent in the last 10 years, according to its annual report issued Friday.
The annual report reflects on the work done by the Ombudsman office in the previous year. In 2022, the office took on 3,587 cases stemming from resident complaints – a 28 per cent increase over 2021’s numbers and the largest spike noted in any year prior.
The complaints marked a 69 per cent increase since 2018, and a 151 per cent increase over 2013’s numbers.
“In 2022, the number of complaints to my office increased by 28.5 per cent,” Ombudsman Kwame Addo wrote in his opening remarks.”Despite this increase, I am pleased to say that my team worked diligently to hold the City accountable to the public with efficiency.”
Addo said his office resolved 90 per cent of complaints within 30 days.
The Ombudsman commended public officials on their work to resolve issues, but said they must do more to ensure fair service – the report identified administrative fairness problems in close to half of the complaints the office received in 2022
“The vast majority of complaints continue to be about poor communication, including delays in the City getting back to people and staff providing inconsistent information or unclear messages,” Addo said.
Alongside communication, the report identified issues in the city's encampment clearing procedures and within the policing policies among Toronto's top problems.
Concerns about the city's approach to encampment clearings, initially raised in an interim investigation report earlier this year, resulted in 31 recommendations put forth to ensure “transparency, and accountability” in any future clearings, while issues of fairness within the Toronto Police Service have prompted the office to launch an investigation into the force in the coming months.
"Our work does not end when we resolve a complaint or issue recommendations,” Addo wrote in the report.
“We continue to monitor the City's actions and identify unfairness when we see it. Day or night, the public can rest assured that we will always be here standing up for fairness in the delivery of City services."
