Concerned Citizen and Employee Hotline

The Concerned Citizen and Employee Hotline is a confidential and anonymous third-party service. Everyone, including citizens, municipal employees, and municipal contractors, may use this service seven days a week and 24 hours a day to report suspicion or proof of wrongdoing, defined as any kind of activity that could be deemed fraud, waste, or misuse of City assets. Employees and contractors of the City of Windsor may use the hotline without fear of reprisal under the City's whistleblower policy.

For general questions and complaints regarding City services, call 311.

To raise a concern, as a citizen or taxpayer, about how you were treated, call 311.

Contact Numbers:

  • 311 within Windsor
  • 519-255-CITY(2489) alternate or outside Windsor
  • TTY/Teletypewriter (Bell Relay Service): Type 711 for the operator or dial 1-800-855-0511.

Submitting a Complaint

You may submit your complaint using one of four methods (please ensure you have considered the material below on this web page outlining what may be submitted and the required information for a submission to be considered):

  1. Phone: Dial (519) 980-6656. You may leave your complaint information; please include a method of contacting you for follow-up and the collection of relevant information.
  2. Online: Submit a secure form online at Windsor Complaints.
  3. Email: Submit form to windsorcomplaint@risksavvy.ca by email. 
  4. Mail: Download and complete the Concerned Citizen Employee Complaint Form and mail the completed form to:
    Risk Savvy Ltd.
    P. O. Box 790
    St. Mary’s Stn Main, Ontario N4X 1B5

The hotline has been put into place to enable citizens and City of Windsor employees to provide information on suspected fraud, waste, and/or abuse of City assets in a private, confidential, and anonymous manner at the caller's discretion. All callers will be protected under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act as well as the City's Concerned Employee Policy.

Where should I file my complaint?

General Questions and Complaints Regarding City Services: Call 311

Residents who require assistance or have general questions or complaints about City services such as waste collection, snow plowing and by-law services or other programs should not contact the hotline to resolve their complaint. Concerns about the City’s services and programs should be reported to the City’s 311 Customer Contact Centre for resolution.

Workplace Issues:

Workplace issues include concerns about staff members raised but not addressed by a staff member's immediate supervisor or manager. Complaints about staff members that have not been resolved to the complainant's satisfaction should be forwarded to senior management or Human Resources personnel for resolution or included in a formal grievance.

City staff should not use the hotline to address workplace issues unless they continue to be unresolved after being brought to the attention of their immediate supervisors or raised through one of the internal reporting mechanisms for health and safety concerns or the prevention of workplace violence, harassment, and discrimination.

Complaints submitted through this hotline or directly to the auditor general will require support demonstrating prior escalation to area senior management or Human Resources and the functional City leader.

As a Citizen or Taxpayer, How Do I Raise a Concern With How I Was Treated?

Service issues include concerns about the treatment citizens and taxpayers receive when engaging with or being serviced by the City. Complaints about interactions with City personnel should be raised to management or via 311. Complaints that have yet to be resolved to the complainant's satisfaction should be forwarded to senior management or Human Resources personnel (and the functional leader) for resolution.

Citizens and taxpayers should only use the hotline to address unresolved service issues after being brought to the attention of the area supervisor and executive management or Human Resources.

Complaints submitted through this hotline or directly to the auditor general will require support demonstrating prior escalation to area executive management or Human Resources and the functional City leader.

The hotline should only be used to report allegations of wrongdoing, which is defined as any kind of activity that could be deemed illegal, dishonest or wasteful or a deliberate violation of City policy. Several definitions of wrongdoing activities are provided below.

Required Information

Complaints should be about a specific incident. Please include “who, what, when and where” in your report. Providing specific and detailed information will help with the investigation, including the person(s) involved, time and date of the incident and location of where the incident took place.

Complaints are reviewed for accuracy to determine whether the submission is reasonable and valid for further investigation. When required, information may be forwarded to law enforcement or other outside legislated authorities.

As per the Council-approved protocol, complaints and allegations must have the individual submitting the allegation provide the following basic information to consider the allegation. Allegations that do not provide the required information after two follow-ups within 30 days will be deemed closed.

The required information is as follows:

  1. First and last name
  2. Two contact methods - preferably email and phone number, but address is also acceptable
  3. Attestation that the complainant is a citizen or taxpayer of the city of Windsor or a representative thereof
  4. Summary of the nature of the allegation
  5. Listing of all evidence and willingness to provide it
  6. Functional area the allegation relates to 
  7. Summary and supporting evidence of prior attempts at escalation/resolution where the allegation relates to workplace or citizen treatment concerns.

Online submission forms and downloadable forms have been provided on this site to support you. If these measures do not permit you to submit your query, please contact the administrator via phone, email or postal mail using the contact details at the top of this page to arrange support for an alternate method of submission.

What is Waste?

Waste refers to the inefficient use of municipal resources and any operation, process, or activity in which municipal resources may be used without due regard for value for money or where opportunities may exist to save money.

What is Fraud?

For this protocol, fraud includes, but is not limited to, the following acts characterized by deceit, concealment or wilful blindness to policy, procedure or appropriate practice:

  1. Forgery, alteration or fraudulent creation of documents including, but not limited to, cheques, drafts, promissory notes, securities, timesheets, purchase orders, other blank documents of value such as invoices, billing slips, permits, licences, etc.; 
  2. Any misappropriation, embezzlement, unauthorized use or misuse of cash, funds, securities, supplies, furniture, equipment, materials, records or any other asset; 
  3. Any irregularity in the handling or reporting of money transactions; 
  4. Any intentional, false representation or concealment of a material fact for the purpose of improperly obtaining or impairing a City of Windsor asset; 
  5. Demanding, requesting or accepting anything having value from vendors, consultants, contractors, or anyone doing business with the City as a condition of their doing business with the City or in order for them to receive preferential treatment from the City; 
  6. Offering or providing anything having value to clients, vendors, consultants, contractors, or anyone doing business with the City as a means of obtaining preferential treatment or benefit for the employee, any other person or the City; 
  7. Any intentional violations of the Corporate Conflict of Interest Policy; 
  8. Any computer-related activity involving the alteration, destruction, forgery or fraudulent manipulation of data and any misappropriation of City-owned software; 
  9. Any claim for reimbursement of expenses that were not incurred as a recognizable business expense for the City’s benefit or that are in violation of the Corporate Business and Travel Expense policy; 
  10. Authorization or receipt of payments for goods not received or services not performed other than normal prepaid expenditures; 
  11. Authorization or receipt of payment for hours not worked; 
  12. Any apparent violation of federal, provincial or local laws related to dishonest activities or fraud.

What is Misuse?

Misuse includes unethical behaviour, wilful omission to perform one’s duties, abuse of authority, theft, embezzlement, receipt of bribes, kickbacks or gifts of significant value, breach of federal, provincial or municipal legislation and significant waste of City assets.

What are considered City Assets?

City assets include all tangible and intangible property of the City, including but not limited to equipment, financial assets, land, vehicles, material, computers, electronic mail, internet services, information and work time.

Who Can Be Investigated?

Complaints may be filed regarding City of Windsor:

  • Employees
  • Management
  • Contractors

The wrongdoing hotline should not be used to file complaints about:

  • The Mayor or members of Council.

These complaints should be filed separately to the City's integrity commissioner.

Agencies, boards and wholly owned corporations of the City of Windsor are not included in the City’s complaint resolution process, including:

  • The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
  • The Essex Region Conservation Authority
  • Local boards 
  • Municipally controlled corporations
  • Grant recipients
  • The Committee of Adjustment
  • The Windsor Police Service Board (WPSB)
  • The Windsor Public Library Board (WPLB)

Please contact these organizations directly with your complaint. Questions regarding the local boards' contacts for submitting such allegations should be directed to the City Clerk.

Should the independent administrator of the hotline receive complaints related to the above exclusions, they will be routed to the auditor general. The auditor general will direct allegations related to:

  • Elected officials or their staff to the integrity commissioner for appropriate action
  • Boards, corporations, committees, and organizations to the finance executive initiatives coordinator for forwarding to the appropriate organizational contacts

Understanding Anonymity

The Concerned Citizen and Employee Hotline is operated independently by a third party. 

While complaints may be submitted anonymously to the hotline, in some circumstances, investigators may be unable to follow up on a complaint without knowing the identity of the complainant. In these circumstances, the complainant will be asked whether they consent to revealing their name to the investigator.

All inbound allegations will be treated as anonymous when reported/referenced outside the offices of the administrator or the Office of the Auditor General.

To appropriately qualify, assess and follow up on allegations, personnel employed by the administrator or under the supervision of the auditor general may have access to the name and contact information of the individual(s) placing the allegation.

Only the original complainant may waive anonymity and must do so in writing or via an email directly to the auditor general. Where an allegation is to be routed to management, the administrator will presume anonymity is required unless explicitly waived by the complainant within five business days of the administrator requesting clarity on the complaint’s anonymity preference. Such messages shall not receive a follow-up/response from management directly or through the auditor general or the administrator.

Complainants submitting a complaint need to be aware that sometimes:

  1. Preserving anonymity may limit an investigation's scope and depth.
  2. The actual investigation of the allegation may provide management with insight into who the anonymous party is, given prior to interactions with management by the complainant on the same topic.
  3. Preserving anonymity may increase the overall investigation efforts so that the investigator can safeguard the complainant's anonymity.

How are Investigations Monitored and Reported to Council?

The Auditor General’s Office oversees the Concerned Citizen and Employee Hotline. Staff in the Auditor General’s Office assign complaints for investigation, monitor their status, review the outcome of investigations, and report their status semi-annually to Council as part of the regular reporting activities of the auditor general.

Past reports are also listed on the Auditor General Reports page.

Escalation 

Complainants also have the right to contact the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman to request a further investigation if they remain unsatisfied with the outcome of the investigation of their complaint. Please note that the Ontario Ombudsman will not accept complaints for investigation until an investigation has concluded at the municipal level. The website of the Ontario Ombudsman states that “the Ombudsman recommends solutions to fix problems of maladministration. He cannot overturn decisions made by municipalities, school boards or universities.”

See copy of the current Council-approved Concerned Citizen and Employee Hotline Protocol.