Complaints

A complaint can be made if you are unhappy with the delivery of City services, or if you did not have a positive experience. The complaint may include the service itself; actions/lack of actions by an employee; or an issue with a policy, program, process or procedure.

It is important to remember that a complaint is different from a request for service, feedback, compliment or suggestion. For these please contact Service Oshawa.

Examples of complaints include:

• You have requested something from a City employee, and the request has not been fulfilled in a timely manner;
• The service that you received was not as you expected it to be;
• You feel that you were not treated fairly;
• You have contacted the City and did not receive a response.

The following types of complaints will not be investigated in accordance with this Policy and includes but not limited to:

• Anonymous Complaints;
• Complaints regarding a decision or recommendation of Council or a Committee of Council;
• Complaints regarding whether a meeting of Council was appropriately held in accordance with the Closed Meeting provisions outlined in the Municipal Act, 2001 (closed meeting complaints are governed by the Ontario Ombudsman);
• Complaints about Members of Council (as they are governed by the Council Code of Conduct and investigated by the Integrity Commissioner);
• Complaints which involve ongoing litigation;
• Complaints from Employees about other Employees or working conditions;
• Frivolous, Vexatious or Unreasonable Requests or Complaints;
• Issues that have statutory review and appeal processes including but not limited to Freedom of Information Requests, development charge levies, land use planning, by-law notices, orders and appeals;
• Outside boards and agencies including, for example, the Oshawa Public Library and Robert McLaughlin Gallery;
• Requests for Service;
• Requests to change a by-law;
• Suggestions;
• Civil matters.

If you are unsure about whether your concern should be addressed through this complaint process please first contact Service Oshawa. This allows most issues to be resolved quickly.

If you are still not satisfied with how your concern has been handled, please submit a complaint via our Complaint Management and Resolution form. This form can be submitted using one of the following methods:

• Service Oshawa Online 
• Printable PDF form

The City will provide a final response to the complaint within 20 business days. In exceptional circumstances if this timeframe cannot be met, the City will keep you informed of the status.

If you are not happy with the outcome of the complaint process, or you feel like it was not handled correctly, you may contact the Ontario Ombudsman for further assistance.