Toronto’s mayor announces plan to hire more staffing to improve 911 response times
Posted March 4, 2025 7:28 am.
Last Updated March 4, 2025 10:37 am.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the city intends to hire additional staff to improve 911 and emergency services’ response times.
Chow and Police Chief Myron Demkiw spoke at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday alongside Chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, Shelley Carroll.
Chow shared new statistics indicating that response wait times in Toronto have dropped from 26.7 minutes at its peak to 12.6 minutes. Toronto’s mayor added that the improvement is partially because of the more than 300 police officers hired, with a new class of graduates set to be deployed on Monday, March 10.
“This means police will be there faster when you need them most,” Chow said. “We are seeing the [average] response time decreasing.”
The TPS board is meeting to discuss a multi-year staffing plan, which is included in this year’s budget and contains new “Community Officer” roles.
“This is a critical step. Everyone deserves to feel safe and represented by the officers who serve their community,” Chow said. “We will continue to invest in a multi-year staffing plan.”
In October 2024, CityNews reported that delays in getting through to the Toronto Police Service’s 911 communications centre were still prevalent for those seeking immediate assistance.
The Toronto police communications centre is the first point of contact for anyone in the city who calls 911, including people who call about medical, fire, and crime-related emergencies.
According to figures shared in October, the average answering time for 911 calls was 1:07.
After analyzing data between 2018 and 2021, the auditor general’s office found the Toronto Police Service on average didn’t meet the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)‘s standard of answering 90 per cent of 911 calls within 15 seconds. They said call volume and staffing levels were the two biggest factors.
With files from Nick Westoll of CityNews
