Toronto relaunches education campaign on when to call 911

Toronto police and Mayor Olivia Chow are renewing a campaign to educate the public about when they should call 911 as opposed to non-emergency services, in an effort to ease the pressure on the emergency line.

Speaking with reporters on Monday, Toronto police's Deputy Chief Lauren Pogue said that as part of the Make the Right Call campaign, the city will begin running ads educating the public about when to seek out other resources such as 211 for community and social services, 311 for city services and programs, and the police non-emergency line. 

Chow, who also spoke at the news conference, said almost three out of 10 calls to 911 are not for emergencies. 

"By making the right call we are helping other Torontonians that desperately need that 911 call responded to quickly. And we owe it to each other," the mayor said. 

Pogue said the education campaign will feature posts on social media and at transit shelters.

The campaign originally launched in the fall of 2023, with the city renewing it as it says 911 calls increased by nearly 3,000 last month compared to the usual average. 

911 callers long impacted by delays 

This campaign follows a 2022 report from Toronto's Auditor General that recommended educating the public about alternative numbers to call instead of 911. 

The report also found the service needed to hire more operators, citing staff shortages and call volume as the root causes of delays people face as they wait for someone on the other end of the line. 

Last week, the Toronto Police Association said some callers spend up to 11.7 minutes waiting for help on any given day because of staffing shortages.

They add that out of at least 100 new operators they need, only two new people were hired this year. And while some shifts only have half the necessary staff, the association said they also lose 14 per cent of their employees every year, with many of them going to other services.

Police working on hiring staff 

"And why wouldn't they," the association wrote on social media, adding that dispatchers in regions like London or Peel make thousands more per year than those in Toronto, where 2 million 911 calls are handled each year. 

CBC previously reported the average time 911 callers spend on hold in Toronto slightly dropped in the first half of 2024, from an average of 58 seconds in 2023 to an average of 37 seconds. That slight drop came after a consistent rise in wait times in previous years but still fell short of meeting the industry standard. 

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) has set the standard of answering 90 per cent of calls within 15 seconds and 95 per cent of calls within 20 seconds. 

"We are working very hard on hiring and retention, certainly looking to leverage technology to make things easier for everyone," Pogue said. 

Earlier this summer, Toronto police launched its first phase of Next Generation 911, a switch from an analog to an internet-based platform to handle calls. According to Toronto Police Communications Services, this move, also taken by services across the country as mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, is expected to save time and be completed by the end of the year.