Item - 2025.SE9.1

The Service Excellence Committee received the report (August 27, 2025) from the Executive Director, Customer Experience for information.

Danielle Seraphim, Executive Director, Customer Experience gave a presentation on Customer Experience Division - History, Systems Integrations and the Future of Customer Service.

This report provides an update to the Service Excellence Committee on progress regarding the centralization of routine and transactional services, identified as Tier 1 services, into 311.

311 has established a customer service model that puts customers first by connecting the public with the appropriate staff, based on the complexity of their request. Routine and transactional requests, such as providing information about City programs or supporting intake of simple service requests (e.g., reporting a pothole), are designated as Tier 1 services and are supported by 311 Customer Service Representatives. More complex matters are designated as Tier 2 services and are managed by divisional staff with specialized knowledge to address inquiries that may require consultation, be impacted by legislated requirements, or require case management (e.g., client-specific intake for Shelter Services or Human Services, inquiries related to Toronto transit discounts and childcare fee subsidies).

Currently, the Customer Experience Division provides Tier 1 service support on behalf of the five Integrated Service Divisions: Transportation Services, Toronto Water, Solid Waste Management, Municipal Licensing and Standards, and Environment, Climate and Forestry–Urban Forestry. Parks will be integrated with 311 by end of September 2025.

The Customer Experience Division conducted a preliminary review of City services and call centres for eligibility and readiness for integration with 311. The review found that most services, aside from services offered by Parks and Recreation, are better suited for future consideration for integration once 311 has improved its end-to-end experience and other readiness activities have taken place. Additional integrations would require foundational work by future service divisions and their partners, such as process documentation, digitization and back-end system upgrades to meet the operational standards for integration. Further, there are services that are considered Tier 2 services that are not currently considered for integration with 311 due to the complexity of their work and client needs.

Based on this review, beyond Parks and Recreation, there are no integration opportunities being pursued at this time. Instead, the Customer Experience Division is focused on enhancing the end-to-end experience for existing integrated services, as well as integrating Community Recreation by late 2026. This includes improving customer communications through the Closing the Loop initiative and streamlining the self-serve experience to make service request submission faster, easier and simpler.

Looking ahead, the Customer Experience Division remains committed to working collaboratively with service areas to explore future integration opportunities. As divisions advance their readiness and as 311 enhances its current service offerings, the potential for onboarding new services into 311 will be re-evaluated. This focus ensures that 311 is optimizing its existing service experience before integrating additional services.