Overview

Effective policing is vital so we can all live in safety in our communities. To give Ontarians the security they need and expect, the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA) and its regulations:

  • set the standards for police services
  • spell out who is responsible for police services and how they will operate
  • sets out duties, responsibilities and roles in relation to policing as well as who is responsible for ensuring that adequate and effective policing is provided
  • sets out the discipline process for officers
  • gives the Ministry of the Solicitor General the responsibility for administering the act and its regulations
  • creates the position of the Inspector General of Policing
  • identifies core functions for adequate and effective policing in Ontario
  • describes eight principles for police services to follow in carrying out those activities

Core functions

Ontario’s police services:

  • prevent crime
  • enforce our laws
  • help victims
  • keep public order
  • respond to emergencies

Eight principles

Ontario has a Declaration of Principles written into its statute. Ontario’s police are committed to the following eight principles:

  1. Ensuring the safety and security of all people and property in Ontario, including on First Nation reserves.
  2. Safeguarding the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code.
  3. Working closely with the communities they serve.
  4. Respecting victims of crime and understanding their needs.
  5. Being sensitive to the diverse, multiracial and multicultural character of Ontario society.
  6. Being responsive to the unique histories and cultures of First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities.
  7. Ensuring that police services and police service boards are representative of the communities they serve.
  8. Ensuring that all parts of Ontario, including First Nation reserves, receive equitable levels of policing.

The role of municipalities

Municipalities can provide police services for their citizens in several ways. They can:

  • set up their own police service
  • arrange with one or more municipalities to have a joint police service for the area
  • hire the police service of another municipality
  • hire the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)
  • enter into an agreement with a First Nation board to receive policing from a First Nation police service

There are 43 municipal police services in Ontario, in addition to the OPP, for a total of 44. There are also nine self-administered First Nations police services in Ontario.

The role of the Ministry of the Solicitor General

The Ministry of the Solicitor General has a wide range of responsibilities for policing in Ontario. Under the CSPA, the ministry is responsible for the following:

  • The Ontario Police College, which trains police recruits and offers advanced training for experienced police officers and civilian employees of police services.
  • The Ontario Provincial Police, which provides police services in some municipalities and polices the province’s highways, trails and waterways.
  • Researching criminal justice trends that affect policing.
  • Overseeing the Ontario operations of the Canadian Police Information Centre. This is a national database of information on wanted and missing persons, stolen vehicles and other crime-related issues.

Standards for police services

The standards that police services must meet are set out in the act and regulations such as the Adequate and Effective Policing (General) regulation.

The Policing Standards Manual will be updated to align with the requirements in the CSPA to provide guidance for municipalities, police services boards, and police services on the Act and its regulations.

Police oversight and administrative bodies

The CSPA includes police oversight and discipline processes to ensure more accountability for the policing sector, improve fairness for officers and increase public confidence and trust in the police discipline process. Ontario has three police oversight bodies and one administrative body related to discipline. 

  • Inspector General of Policing 

    Ensures compliance with and enforces the CSPA and its regulations. Responds to public complaints about police service delivery and allegations of police board member misconduct. Examines performance of police services and boards.

  • Law Enforcement Complaints Agency 

    Responsible for investigating public complaints about police officers, reviewing issues of a systemic nature, and investigating complaints in the public interest.

  • Ontario Police Arbitration and Adjudication Commission 

    Administers police discipline adjudications, budget-related arbitrations, and labour-related conciliation and arbitration.

  • Special Investigations Unit 

    Investigates incidents involving police officials where there is a serious injury, death, allegation of sexual assault or discharge of firearm by an official at a person.

Inspector General of Policing

Ontario’s Inspector General of Policing is supported by the Inspectorate of Policing, an arm’s-length division of the Ministry of the Solicitor General. The Inspector General provides oversight over policing across the province, while ensuring and enforcing compliance with the CSPA and its regulations. 

The Inspector General is responsible for:

  • responding to public complaints about adequate and effective policing and allegations of police board members misconduct
  • inspections, investigations, monitoring, providing advice and examining the performance of police services and boards
  • issuing directions or imposing measures if there is a failure to comply with the CSPA and its regulations, including in cases of a policing emergency

The Inspector General has regulatory oversight of:

  • municipal police service boards and police services
  • chiefs of police
  • the OPP and OPP detachment boards
  • First Nations OPP boards and First Nations police services that opt-in to the CSPA
  • any entity providing policing by agreement, including not-for-profit and for-profit organizations
  • any public sector body that may provide police services
  • organizations that employ special constables

The Inspector General is required to publicly report on their activities, including publishing inspection reports and an annual report.

Use of force and race data collection

Under the Anti-Racism Act, the ministry is required to collect data on an officer’s perception of the race of an individual on whom force was used and a use of force report was completed.

Use of Force Reports

The police must complete Use of Force Reports required through the Use of Force and Weapons regulation. Examples of when a report is required include when a police officer:

  • points a firearm at someone
  • discharges a firearm
  • uses a weapon on another person
  • points a conducted energy weapon at a person
  • discharges a conducted energy weapon

Police must include their perception of the person’s race, age and gender in the report. It also includes information about the individuals involved and contextual information related to the incident. The ministry does not collect individuals’ names in the report.

Designated staff in the police service review the reports and their chief of police, or designate, must submit information from the report to the ministry. The information gathered by the ministry is used to support the objectives of the Anti-Racism Act to:

  • identify, monitor and address potential systemic racism
  • advance racial equity while maintaining the privacy of all individuals involved

The ministry also uses the information to inform and enhance police practices, standards and training.

Contact us

For questions about police use of force reporting, contact the ministry’s Public Safety Division by email at: publicsafetydivision@ontario.ca. For questions about race data collection, contact the Anti-Racism Strategy and Analysis Unit at: SolGen.ARSAU@ontario.ca

Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario

Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario (CISO) is a partnership between the Ontario government and the law enforcement community. It brings together police services and provincial and federal government agencies to identify and tackle organized crime across the province.

The CISO is part of a Canadian network of similar organizations that make up Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC).

What the CISO does

CISO links organizations that are responsible for:

  • intelligence gathering
  • criminal investigation
  • enforcing provincial and federal laws

These connections make it possible for police and government to work together effectively to fight organized crime.

It also provides specialized intelligence training to police officers and funding to support major organized crime investigations targeting:

  • street gangs
  • illegal drug manufacturing
  • weapons and cigarette smuggling
  • auto theft rings
  • extortion
  • money laundering
  • illegal gambling
  • identity theft
  • black marketing
  • fraud
  • human trafficking and human exploitation