Investigative Reports

Showing 1 to 10 of 50 items

An Investigation into the City’s Decision to Stop Allowing Refugee Claimants into Base Shelter System Beds

December 12, 2024

Toronto’s Ombudsman Kwame Addo finds that the City of Toronto’s decision to stop allowing refugee claimants access to its base shelter beds was unfair, poorly planned, and inconsistent with its commitments to transparency, accountability, and the human right to adequate housing.

An Investigation into the Toronto Police Service’s Communications About its Vulnerable Persons Registry

September 5, 2024

In December 2019, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) launched a Vulnerable Persons Registry (VPR) to improve police officers’ interactions with vulnerable persons in crisis through the creation of personalized de-escalation strategies. However, four years later, communications failures and poor management have meant that few of the people the registry aims to support have actually registered for it. This report outlines the findings of our investigation into the transparency, adequacy, and meaningfulness of the TOS’s communications about the VPR.

Housing Unit Status Update

July 19, 2024

This status report describes the activities of our Housing Unit since its creation in July 2023. In less than a year, we have fully staffed the Housing Unit, developed its infrastructure, launched two investigations, provided consultations to City staff, and met with more than 170 people through our engagement work.

An Investigation into Toronto Hydro’s Process for Customer-Owned Infrastructure

April 12, 2024

35 years after purchasing a property, Mr. A. received a notice from Toronto Hydro telling him he was responsible for approximately $20,000 of repairs to an underground hydro vault he did not know about and was never told he owned. That’s when he contacted our office for help.

An Investigation into Toronto Community Housing Corporation’s Tenant Human Rights Complaints Process

June 9, 2023

We heard from several TCHC tenants who had complaints that involved their human rights and were concerned that TCHC did not have a system in place to address them. Human rights are fundamental rights and TCHC has legal obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code to respect those rights.

Investigation into the City’s Clearing of Encampments in Summer 2021

March 24, 2023

Our investigation into how the City planned, engaged, and communicated about its response to encampments found that the City chose expediency over the needs of people living in encampments, causing undue confusion and harm. The overall result was significant unfairness.

An Investigation into the City’s Process for Clearing Encampments in 2021: Interim Report

July 14, 2022

Clearing encampments is extremely disruptive and can be traumatizing to the people living in them—the City owes a high duty of fairness to encamped residents. Given how important this issue is, and the fact that the City is continuing to clear encampments, we released an interim report with early recommendations that the City should act on immediately.

Enquiry into the City of Toronto’s Communication and Enforcement of COVID-19 Rules in City Parks in Spring 2020

July 9, 2021

We heard from 10 people who got tickets from for violating COVID-19 rules for use of City parks. A common theme: they felt they had been penalized not for flouting the COVID-19 rules on the use of City parks, but for simply being unaware of them or not fully understanding them.

Update on Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) Complaint Trend Data and Related Recommendations

April 26, 2021

Last year, Toronto’s Ombudsman released a public report about trends in all TCHC complaints to her office in 2019. This report serves as an update on that work, and as a constructive tool to help TCHC continue to improve its service to tenants.

Enquiry into How the City of Toronto Handles Homeowner Third-Party Liability Claims for Basement Flooding and Sewer Backups

November 19, 2020

Every year, Toronto homeowners experience distressing and costly basement flooding and sewer backups. In some areas of the City, homeowners are dealing with repeated flooding of their basements, resulting in significant property damage each time. City Council asked Ombudsman Toronto to review the City’s process for investigating claims against the City by people whose properties have suffered damage due to basement floods and sewer backups.