City recognized for exemplary practice of removing fee to file integrity complaints
OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 19, 2025 /CNW/ - Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé today announced that the first municipality to receive his office's new Good Governance Award is the City of Hamilton.
The award recognizes public sector bodies that have demonstrated exemplary administrative practices. In Hamilton's case, the exemplary practice was council's decision to stop charging residents a $100 fee to file complaints to the city's Integrity Commissioner.
Ombudsman Dubé presented the award to Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath this morning on the plenary stage at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario's annual conference in Ottawa.
"There should be no fee or other barrier to making a complaint, which is every resident's right," he said. "It's an important part of any democracy, especially at the local level."
All municipalities in the province have been required to have codes of conduct and provide access to an integrity commissioner since 2019. Hamilton city council removed the fee in June 2022 after the Ombudsman reviewed a complaint from a low-income resident who said he could not afford it.
In his letter to the city at the time, Ombudsman Dubé pointed out that the code of conduct complaint system was "premised on a willing public coming forward to assist in ensuring that transparency is maintained at the municipal level."
Charging a fee is "entirely inconsistent" with the intent of the system and "penalizes complainants for exercising their statutory rights," he said, adding that it could also prevent legitimate complaints from being brought forward.
Mayor Horwath thanked the Ombudsman for the award, noting that the city has continued the no-fee practice for integrity complaints since she took office in November 2022. "It's an honour to be the first municipality recognized by the Ombudsman for our efforts in the interests of transparency and accountability," she said. "We appreciate his office's expertise and guidance in this area."
In the Hamilton case and others in recent years, the Ombudsman has acknowledged that municipalities often implement fees to discourage "frivolous or vexatious" complaints, but urged them instead to empower their integrity commissioners to assess and dismiss cases on that basis if warranted.
Mr. Dubé launched the Good Governance Awards earlier this year as part of Ombudsman Ontario's 50th anniversary activities. In February, he recognized the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) for its efforts to enhance its provision of French language services. The awards for Ontario government and broader public sector bodies are being announced throughout this milestone year.
"In our work, we handle tens of thousands of complaints and inquiries about public services – and often we do that by working directly with the responsible bodies," Mr. Dubé said.
"Whenever we can, we share best practices or recommend solutions to make public services work better and avert future complaints. When organizations put those solutions into action, everyone benefits – and they should be credited for doing so."
Throughout its 50-year history, the Ombudsman's office has always received complaints and inquiries about municipal issues, but the Ombudsman's jurisdiction was only fully extended to include municipalities as of January 1, 2016. Since then, Ombudsman Ontario has handled nearly 30,000 cases about municipalities – and resolved most of them by working with local officials. The top topics, year after year, relate to councils and committees (including matters of conduct), by-law enforcement, and services ranging from housing to infrastructure to local utilities.
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About the Ombudsman's Good Governance Awards: These awards are intended to encourage and recognize good administration, fair treatment, and the adoption of best practices. They reflect tangible actions that align with Ombudsman Ontario's vision of "a public sector that serves Ontarians in a way that is fair, accountable, transparent and respectful of their rights," and have resulted in exemplary administration.
Recipients are selected by the Ombudsman from nominations made by Ombudsman Ontario staff, based on their interactions with public sector bodies in the course of their work in investigating and resolving complaints from the public.
About Ombudsman Ontario: In 1975, 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. Ombudsman Ontario's 50th anniversary logo incorporates the image of a gryphon, an updated version of the insignia the office chose in 1975 to symbolize its role as a protector of rights.
SOURCE Ombudsman Ontario
For more information, contact: Linda Williamson, Director of Communications, [email protected], 416-319-7391
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