City officials have unveiled a new public awareness initiative aimed at reducing the strain on the city’s 911 system, as concerns grow over lengthy wait times and a high volume of non-emergency calls.
The campaign, titled “Make the Right Call,” will roll out across transit stations, public spaces, and social media platforms operated by the City of Toronto. Its goal is to educate residents about which city and community services to contact instead of dialing 911 for non-urgent situations.
Posters and online messages encourage people to redirect issues such as mental health or social support needs, noise complaints from house parties, and reports of dead animals to alternative services, including 311, 211, 811, or the Toronto Police non-emergency line.
The Toronto police communications centre acts as the central intake for all 911 calls in the city, including police, fire, and medical emergencies. Deputy Police Chief Lauren Pogue emphasized that unnecessary calls can have serious consequences.
“Seconds matter,” Pogue said during a Monday morning news conference. “This campaign is about making sure people get the right help at the right time and that emergency calls receive immediate attention.”
Mayor Olivia Chow noted that nearly 30 per cent of calls to 911 are non-emergencies or could be handled by other services. She added that since 211 began responding to mental health and addictions crisis calls, there has already been a modest decline in 911 call volumes.
“When we make the right call, we’re helping fellow Torontonians who truly need emergency services,” Chow said. “It’s a shared responsibility.”
Pogue also highlighted that accidental calls including hang-ups and pocket dials further slow response times. Operators are required to follow up on every disconnected call to ensure there is no emergency.
“In one case, repeated hang-ups tied up operators while another call-taker was already speaking to the same caller,” she explained. “That time could have gone to a real emergency.”
While supportive of the campaign in principle, Toronto Police Association president Clayton Campbell said awareness efforts do not address deeper, systemic problems inside the communications centre.
“We’ve seen poster campaigns like this before,” Campbell said. “They’re fine, but they don’t fix the real issues staffing shortages, retention problems, and burnout. Members are leaving for other services where the pay is better and the workload is lighter.”
Recent reports have painted a troubling picture. On Oct. 17, wait times to reach 911 reportedly approached 11 minutes and 45 seconds. Campbell described the situation as “atrocious,” adding he has heard of other recent delays lasting eight to nine minutes.
“Operators are exhausted,” he said. “And the public is frustrated people are telling us they’ve experienced these delays firsthand.”
A spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service said they could not confirm specifics from Oct. 17 but stated that as of Oct. 21, the average 911 answer time for the month was one minute and seven seconds.
Both the police service and the union pointed to high call volumes, staffing challenges, and retention issues as key factors behind periodic delays.
Kerry-Anne Murray-Bates, manager of the Toronto police communications centre, acknowledged staffing pressures and said wait times often spike during major incidents.
“A single collision on the Gardiner Expressway or the DVP can generate 50 to 100 calls at once,” she said. “Our operators work hard to clear the queue, but call volumes can change dramatically from day to day.”
Murray-Bates confirmed that detailed data on wait times is tracked in 15-minute increments and is used for operational planning. Meanwhile, Pogue said efforts are underway to improve hiring and retention, including plans to recruit 90 additional call-takers and introduce new technologies to reduce workload pressures.
The issue is not new. A 2022 report from Toronto’s auditor general found that between 2018 and 2021, the Toronto Police Service routinely failed to meet National Emergency Number Association benchmarks for answering calls promptly. The review issued 26 recommendations and identified staffing levels and call volume as the two main contributors to delays.
Toronto’s 911 system handles roughly 1.8 million calls annually, the majority of them emergencies. City officials say the new campaign is one step toward ensuring those calls receive the fastest possible response but many agree that lasting improvements will depend on solving long-standing staffing and retention challenges inside the communications centre.
