Community Engagement
At Ombudsman Toronto, engaging with the public helps us better understand the challenges people face and strengthens our work. Last year, we participated in 45 engagement activities with the public. We focused on increasing awareness and reducing barriers, especially for communities facing the greatest obstacles to accessing City services.
Purpose of our engagement efforts
Our engagement efforts help us to:
- increase awareness of our work so that people who feel they have been treated unfairly by the City know how to access our office
- reduce barriers and reflect the voices of equity-deserving communities in our work
- maintain transparency and strengthen public accountability
- identify emerging issues to ground our work in real-world experiences
- drive focused efforts that lead to meaningful improvements and positive change that meets people’s needs
Who do we connect with?
Our engagement efforts involve:
- those who use City of Toronto services
- community groups and grassroots organizations that serve equity-deserving groups
- legal clinics and advocates
- equity-deserving communities
- service providers working directly with people in Toronto
Each group plays a distinct role in strengthening fairness and accountability in Toronto’s public services, from sharing individual experiences to identifying systemic issues and helping us connect with communities more broadly.
Connect with us
We’re deeply appreciative of everyone who’s taken the time to meet with us and share their insights and experiences. If you have an issue you’d like to discuss, please email us at ombudsmancomms@toronto.ca.
“Thank you once again for your participation in our event. Your presence and support helped make the day a success for our community.”
— Community organizer
Learn more about our work
Public reports
Our public reports are the result of our investigations, usually involving complex systemic issues that require in depth exploration. These reports, and the findings and recommendations we make in them, hold the City accountable for its actions and help improve public services for everyone.
Case stories
Every day, we hear from people who believe they have been treated unfairly by the City. Case stories provide a window into the kinds of complaints we handle, and how we help make the City’s systems and services fairer for everyone.
Meet the Ombudsman
Kwame Addo is Toronto’s Ombudsman. He and his team stand up for fairness, working to keep the City accountable to the people it serves. His seven-year term as Toronto’s Ombudsman began in August 2021.