Ombudsman marks 10 years of oversight of municipalities across Ontario

Paul Dubé: More than 30,000 cases since 2016 resulted in improved local services and governance for millions of residents

TORONTO, Jan. 5, 2026 /CNW/ - As of New Year's Day, Ombudsman Ontario is marking 10 years of independent oversight of municipalities across the province – a decade of working with local officials to resolve more than 30,000 public complaints and inquiries, and improve governance through systemic solutions and best practices.

"The story of our work with municipalities over the past 10 years is about much more than complaint statistics," said Ombudsman Paul Dubé. "It's a story of collaboration to help hundreds of municipalities make improvements to enhance services, bolster processes, and make things more fair for millions of residents."

Ontario was one of the last provinces in Canada to extend Ombudsman oversight to municipalities – although every Ontario Ombudsman since 1975 had called attention to the significant number of complaints they received about local government services. "It was clear from the earliest days of this Office that Ontarians wanted and needed the help of an independent body to help resolve local concerns fairly," said Ombudsman Dubé.

In 2008, the Ombudsman's jurisdiction was expanded to include complaints about closed municipal council meetings and enforcement of the open meeting requirements in the Municipal Act, 2001. The Ombudsman has since investigated hundreds of closed meetings and developed resources to assist all municipal officials in following the open meeting rules.

In 2016, the Ombudsman's jurisdiction was fully extended to general issues in all 444 municipalities (except matters within the purview of the Toronto Ombudsman). Case volumes have been steady and growing ever since, with new records reached in the past two years (3,595 cases in 2023-2024 and 3,809 in 2024-2025).

Year over year, the most common complaint topics are:

• Councils and committees (e.g., decision-making processes, codes of conduct)
• Local accountability officers (e.g., integrity commissioners)
• By-law enforcement
• Infrastructure and water/sewer issues
• Housing

The Ombudsman and team have resolved the vast majority of cases by working collaboratively with officials at the local level to help complainants access the processes or information they need, or to find solutions to individual problems. Ombudsman staff also regularly share best practices to help municipalities improve fairness and avert future complaints.

"The results we've achieved prove that oversight need not be adversarial – it's a partnership to protect rights and strengthen trust in a way that promotes the health of democracy," said Ombudsman Dubé. "From the start, our approach has never been to 'name, blame, and shame,' but to find solutions together whenever possible."

For example, Ombudsman staff have created resources to help municipalities refine their codes of conduct, improve their complaint handling processes, clarify their meeting procedures, and resolve disputes before they escalate into costly litigation.

In a small number of cases (six in all), Ombudsman Dubé conducted investigations and issued reports and recommendations that were not only overwhelmingly accepted by the municipalities in question, but used by others to improve their own processes.

"The value of these cases lies in the collaborative effect," the Ombudsman noted. "Recommendations that are based on best practices and geared toward improving services not only help the municipalities under review, but often inspire others to adopt them voluntarily."

In 2025, Ombudsman Dubé launched the new Good Governance Awards to recognize exemplary administration. The inaugural award for a municipality was presented in August to the City of Hamilton, for its decision to remove the barrier of a $100 fee to file a complaint with its integrity commissioner.

"Whenever we can, we share best practices or recommend solutions to make public services work better," he said. "When organizations put those solutions into action, everyone benefits – and they should be credited for doing so."

Examples of systemic improvements stemming from Ombudsman recommendations and proposals since 2016:

• The Ombudsman made several submissions to government for standardized codes of conduct and integrity commissioner practices across the province, which were made mandatory for all municipalities in 2019. His most recent submission included six proposals with regard to a new municipal accountability bill, which is still pending.
• A municipality improved the integrity of its processes for hiring and evaluating a Chief Administrative Officer and conducting local investigations. (Report: Inside Job)
• A municipality changed its procedures to reflect the right of the media and the public to attend public meetings and to improve its response to disruptive conduct. (Report: Press Pause)
• A township and county improved their by-law and billing processes after a resident was unfairly billed more than $10,000 for an investigation conducted without notice. (Report: By-law Surprise)
• A municipality developed a fairer, more reasonable process for dealing with difficult interactions between staff and the public. (Report: Counter Encounter)
• A municipality accepted proposals to improve the transparency of its procurement policies, which were found to be reasonable overall. (Report: Procuring Progress)

Here are some examples of people whose complaints about municipal services were resolved by Ombudsman staff:

• A property owner who had been charged for years for two water service lines, even though his property only had one.
• A family with a child whose at-home medical treatments faced suspension because water bill payments had been credited to the wrong account.
• A senior who didn't know his home was about to be sold for unpaid taxes.
• Three residents with concerns their well water was unsafe after construction in the area.
• A family who was facing homelessness after their subsidized housing unit was damaged by a fire.
• A woman whose municipality demanded she pay permit fees for a culvert under her driveway that she hadn't installed.
• Residents who weren't sure how to complain about the noise, dust and emissions from a nearby open-pit mine.
• A woman who was charged for the pet licence of a dog that had died six months earlier.
• A resident in a basement unit that was flooded when a municipal construction crew broke a nearby water pipe.
• A man who had tried for 10 years to find out why the municipality removed the snow from the sidewalk in front of his neighbours' homes, but not his.

Find more of the Ombudsman's resources for and about municipalities.

Read more individual cases about municipalities.

Statistics on cases received for each municipality are reported every year in the Ombudsman's Annual Reports.

About Ombudsman Ontario: Fifty years ago, Ontario became Canada's seventh province to establish an independent, impartial Ombudsman institution to protect the people's right to fair treatment by public bodies. The office has handled more than 1 million complaints and inquiries and conducted hundreds of investigations, resulting in more than 1,300 recommendations. Most recommendations have been implemented, benefiting millions of Ontarians. Today, the Ombudsman's mandate extends to all provincial government bodies, municipalities, universities and school boards, as well as children's services and French language services.

SOURCE Ombudsman Ontario

For more information, contact: Beatrice Fantoni, Communications Officer, [email protected]