City of Toronto launches improvements to 311 service system

Mayor John Tory announced Monday the launch of what he’s calling an improved 311 Toronto service experience.

The 311 service is a 24/7 non-emergency phone number that residents can call to find information about services, make complaints, or report problems such as road damage.

Tory said the improvements were being planned for years before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that 311 fielded two million calls and 190,000 emails during over the past 19 months.

He said the pandemic forced the city to speed up modernization efforts.

“The City is continuing its progress in transforming how people interact with the City and its services,” Tory said.

“Residents and business want convenience, choice and self-serve options. We have seen how critical digital options are especially during the pandemic.”

He said the improved service experience will allow residents to access more than 600 City services and the option to interact with the City using different digital platforms and about 50 different languages.

The service also continues to operate in more than 180 languages over the phone.

Did you know there are over 600 service requests that you can place @311Toronto? Now all of those can be entered online any device. Click https://t.co/u4N8KVQbrF pic.twitter.com/aFWJAD42Cf

— 311 Toronto (@311Toronto) November 1, 2021

People now have the option of speaking with an agent over the phone or via a live online chat, or submitting a request online with an additional feature of being able to attach a photo to the request.

Users will be able to track the status of their request from start to finish and can opt-in to receive real-time status updates via text messages or emails.

However, the pandemic still plays a role in 311 delays as several services such as encroachment investigations — for example, illegal construction taking up sidewalk space — that were paused due to COVID-19. Tory said those services will resume “as soon as possible.”

For the time-being, people can still send complaints about services that have been suspended during the pandemic using the 311 service system.

Tory said many city employees were redeployed to services deemed high priority during the pandemic such as shelter support and long-term care homes.

Many staff members were also working from home which came with staffing challenges.

He also acknowledged that Monday was the deadline for city staff to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status.

With the vaccine mandate now in effect, employees failing to disclose their vaccination status could be suspended without pay for six weeks.

On Dec. 13, after the unpaid suspension, if staff do not provide proof that they are fully vaccinated, they will lose their job.

Tory said in the event a city staff member is not vaccinated yet then those people will be persuaded to do so.

“In the event some of them can’t and they’re not able to be with us at work … then we have plans in place to make sure that for the average resident of the City of Toronto that there is very little to no impact on the services they receive from us.”