Our city depends on countless services behind the scenes to keep it running, responding, and delivering for residents. Services that millions of Torontonians use every day: like ensuring that our water is safe to drink, that problems get solved, and if emergencies happen, that help is on the way. When our members have the support they need to do their jobs, every neighbour experiences the benefits.
We ensure Toronto’s countless rivers, streams and waterways are protected and pristine, keep our public beaches safe to swim in, and monitor businesses at risk of discharging pollutants into the sewer system.
Toronto’s waterways are treasured resources shared by our whole city. Members like Mostafizur work to make sure our water is safe to drink, swim and bathe in. But as the demands for their expertise increases and their wages fall behind, they’re struggling to keep up.
Toronto uses over 1,000,000,000 litres of water every day.
The city’s tap water is continuously analyzed to ensure it meetsthree levels of strict standards: from Toronto Public Health, the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada.
Toronto Water's accredited lab tests drinking water every six hours — that’s over 6,000 times a year.
Toronto's 11 public beaches are tested for water quality every day from June through August.
Toronto’s emergency dispatchers operate 24/7, remaining calm and precise in critical situations to coordinate care. Facing extraordinary pressure every shift, an already stressful job is made worse by low wages, unsustainable schedules and a lack of mental health support.
Not every problem is an emergency, but they all deserve a solution. That’s where our city’s 311 operators step in, answering questions, providing key information and connecting people with the services that can solve nearly any issue. As the need for services rise and people rely more on support from their City, 311 operators are hearing, seeing, and solving their neighbours’ challenges every day.
Will
Emergency Medical Dispatcher
We’re one of the premier emergency services communication centres in the country and possibly in the world. So I have the pleasure of working with some of the best and brightest people in the industry. But we are in the midst of a retention crisis. In spite of the fact that we are an elite centre, we actually have the lowest pay of almost any in the area. So people move on to other high-skill positions where they will be compensated appropriately. This will have a negative impact on our ambulance response times. It will have a negative impact on the level of patient care we’re able to provide, and it will have a negative impact on patient outcomes.
Toronto’s the fastest growing city in North America, with new buildings springing up every month. And our city is also filled with more than 8,000 heritage buildings that must be preserved and maintained. If any building or home — new or old — is unsafe, our members are there to make sure it’s fixed.
Our members in Municipal Licensing and Standards conduct 200,000 inspections each year for property standards, zoning, noise, waste, buildings, parks and businesses.
Property inspection officers have a 90% response rate to 24-hour emergency inspections.
Nearly 50% of Torontonians are renters. Toronto’s RentSafeTO program helps ensure they have a clean, safe and secure place to call home.
With thousands of people flocking to live here every year, and new construction projects springing up everywhere we look, Toronto’s growth shows no signs of slowing down. But the services our city provides can barely keep up.
We cannot allow public safety standards to fall behind. This means our city needs more inspectors, testers, and enforcement officers to reduce the burden on current positions and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
Toronto deserves better. Help us continue to deliver the services our communities depend on.
416 977-9546
Keeping Toronto at its best is what gets us up every morning. The work is worth it. And so are we.
