Backgrounder - Strengthening Ontario’s Public Order Policing System

Ryan Teschner, Inspector General of Policing for Ontario, has released his first-ever Spotlight Report on public order policing in the province. This report follows a comprehensive inspection conducted between May 2023 and February 2024 by the Inspectorate of Policing (IoP), assessing compliance with provincial requirements for maintaining public order units that are deployed during protests and major events.

 

Inspector General Teschner concludes that “the state of public order policing in Ontario is strong,” while also identifying areas for improvement amid rising demands and evolving challenges.

 

Trends in the Policing of Large-Scale Public Events and Protests

 

  • Surge in Deployments: Public Order Unit (POU) deployments increased by 184 per cent from 2018 to 2022, reflecting a significant rise in public demonstrations and major events.

     

  • Recruitment and Fatigue Challenges: With the surge of major events, the well-being of police officers who are involved in public order policing is a concern, as the pressure to staff large-scale events lead to officer fatigue and recruitment challenges.
     
  • Escalating Costs: On a national scale, the ‘Freedom Convoy’ in 2022 is estimated to have cost $1 million per day, with $800,000 for policing alone. Additionally, events held around the province linked to geopolitical developments, or more local events, such as Niagara Falls receiving approximately one million visitors for the April 2024 solar eclipse, result in significant increased policing costs. Also, rising equipment and material costs may impact the manufacturing and availability of public safety equipment. Police services are not immune from these impacts.
     

  • Limited Resources: Only 11 police services, including the OPP, currently provide public order policing for the province, placing strain on a small segment of the sector to deliver this core policing function wherever it may be needed.

     

  • Operational Gaps: The report identifies unclear deployment criteria and the need for better coordination and preparedness in how to assess risk to determine when POUs should be deployed, as well as other policy and procedure matters.

 

Inspector General Teschner’s Key Recommendations

 

  • Formalize the Ontario Public Order Hub: The Ministry of the Solicitor General should establish the Hub as a permanent entity through changes to Ontario law. The Hub will coordinate POU deployments across the province and share important intelligence information to support public safety. The Hub model enables coordinated, large-scale deployments by pooling resources from multiple POUs across Ontario. While currently informal, the report recommends formalizing the Hub to improve operational outcomes and information-sharing and highlights the need for a permanent Hub to support effectives public order policing deployment across a vast province.

     

  • Standardized Risk Assessment Tool: The Ministry should work with the Ontario Public Order Hub to develop a single, province-wide tool to guide POU deployment decisions locally.

     

  • Response Time Guidelines: Police boards and chiefs of police should consider community needs, population characteristics, and infrastructure when determining reasonable POU deployment response times.

     

  • Integrated Emergency Partnerships: The Ministry, working with the Ontario Public Order Hub, should formalize collaboration between POUs and emergency services—fire and medical services—to facilitate more joint training. This can occur through agreements and legislative changes.

     

  • Updated Policies and Procedures: Boards and chiefs should review and revise POU policies, procedures and operational guidance, as well as conduct post-incident POU debriefings to align with the new requirements of the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA).

     

  • Enhanced Training: Police services should expand training offerings for POU officers to include community-specific and culturally sensitive approaches. This will contribute to enhanced and respectful public order policing. 

     

The IoP’s Public Order Maintenance Inspection

 

The IoP conducted a comprehensive inspection of all 43 municipal police services and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to evaluate their compliance with provincial standards for public order policing. At the time of the inspection, these standards were set out in Ontario Regulation 3/99 – Adequacy and Effectiveness of Police Services, which detailed specific responsibilities for police service boards, chiefs of police, and the OPP Commissioner.

 

Since then, the Public Order Maintenance requirements—originally established under the now-repealed Police Services Act (PSA) and its associated regulation—have been modernized and are part of the CSPA. These updated requirements are now codified in the Adequate and Effective Policing (General) Regulation, which came into effect on April 1, 2024.

 

The new regulatory framework is designed to ensure that Public Order Units are equipped to manage a wide range of public safety scenarios while upholding the right to peaceful assembly and expression. The Inspector General’s recommendations aim to ensure that Ontario’s police services remain a national leader in the delivery of these policing services, ensuring full compliance and enhanced public order capabilities across the province.

 

About the Inspector General of Policing

 

Ryan Teschner, appointed in March 2023, is Ontario’s first Inspector General of Policing with duties and authorities under the Community Safety and Policing Act. He leads the Inspectorate of Policing, an oversight body focused on ensuring high-quality policing and governance across the province.