Inspector General of Policing’s Annual Report 2024 Highlights and Issues of Interest
Policing in Ontario is facing complex and evolving challenges. The release of the Inspector General’s 2024 Annual Report, On the Road to Excellence: A Year of Progress and Purpose, presents a province-wide picture of the state of policing, highlighting common challenges that Ontario’s 43 police services are facing across the province’s diverse communities, as well as successful approaches and initiatives to confront those challenges.
The report also summarizes the Inspectorate of Policing’s (IoP) work in its first year of operations across the areas of inspections, investigations, data analysis and research to drive improved performance in Ontario policing to make everyone safer. The Inspector General’s (IG) mandate to deliver independent, evidence-based oversight that strengthens public confidence through improved policing performance is central to that progress.
“This Report is an invitation to police leaders, board members, policy makers, and every Ontarian to engage in a shared commitment to public safety, integrity, and accountability. That is the standard the people of Ontario deserve, and it is the standard we at the IoP will continue to advance, together,” said Inspector General, Ryan Teschner.
Each year, the Inspector General will be sharing an increasingly comprehensive picture of policing in Ontario, offering both the public and policing sector a detailed sense of the state of policing in the province. The annual report will also identify opportunities to embrace modern and leading policing and police governance practices that enhance the sector’s overall performance and lead to increased public trust.
The 2024 Annual Report highlights the growing drive for excellence across the sector. Police leaders and boards are demonstrating a commitment to excellence and continuous improvement in serving more than 16 million residents and millions of visitors each year.
By the numbers: Cases (complaints, investigations, and inspections)
Total complaints received between April 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025: 505 complaints.
The IoP launched 46 complaint-based inspections in response to public concerns.
The common emerging themes identified are:
- Police response during protests.
- Handling intimate partner violence cases.
- Quality of investigations.
- Traffic enforcement.
- Delays in response and communication.
- Issues with records checks.
Challenges and Opportunities: The issues Ontario policing is confronting
Public trust in policing is essential, yet fragile, making the role of independent oversight more critical than ever.
Police services and boards across Ontario face complex and evolving challenges, including navigating social issues while confronting operational pressures, emerging public safety risks and resource demands. In 2024, the IG visited 31 of Ontario’s 43 municipal police services and boards in the local communities they serve. The IG engaged in meaningful conversations about the future of policing and the shared goal to make communities across Ontario safer.
Highlighted below are some of the common challenges that police services and boards of all sizes are facing across Ontario’s diverse policing landscape, along with impactful initiatives that are already making a difference in how these challenges are being confronted.
Officer Wellness and Resource Strain
Police services in Ontario are facing increased absences due to stress and psychological injury, leading to staffing shortages and burnout. This limits their capacity, including in delivering crime prevention and enforcement activities. In response, services are adopting proactive wellness strategies to support reintegration and resilience of their members. The Chatham-Kent Police Service, for example, has seen improved morale and reduced sick days through a dedicated Health and Wellness Coordinator. Meanwhile, the Ottawa Police Service’s staff stabilization strategy has eased frontline pressures, freeing up over 2,500 hours of on-duty time.
A Unified Crisis Response for Vulnerable Communities
Police are often the first to respond to complex situations involving mental health, addictions, and homelessness, prompting services to launch alternative response teams that pair officers with mental health professionals. The Barrie Police Service successfully piloted its CARE team, which dispatches paramedics and Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) crisis workers to social disorder calls (without weapons). The data shows that the CARE team was able to dedicate nearly 1,000 frontline hours to individuals in crisis in the City of Barrie. It has successfully diverted more than 230 calls for service away from police and found that nearly 60% of clients served were not previously connected with mental health supports. The Toronto Police Mobile Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT) partners officers with mental health nurses operating across 16 divisions to respond to mental health crisis. In 2024, MCIT responded to 6,323 crisis calls and diverted 4,128 interactions from involuntary hospital attendance.
Repeat Offenders and Judicial Possesses
Ontario police services are raising concerns about court backlogs and repeat offenders, particularly in cases involving intimate partner violence and auto theft. In response, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has launched units dedicated to addressing this multifaceted challenge. The Detachment Abuse Issues Investigator (DAII) Program created 70 specially trained detective constable positions across the province. Also, as part of their larger Bail Support Team, the OPP expanded the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) Squad from 5 to 10 teams strategically deployed throughout the province to apprehend the most high-risk offenders.
Financial and Operational Challenges to Modernize Policing
Amid budget pressures, police services across Ontario are adopting modern technology to boost efficiency to address rising operational demands. CAMSafe is a free program launched by the Belleville Police Service and now adopted by more than a dozen municipal forces including Ottawa, Hanover, Waterloo, and the OPP. The program allows residents and businesses to voluntarily register their security cameras and share footage to support criminal investigations. Endorsed by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, CAMSafe helps police access critical evidence and fosters community collaboration.
IoP Key 2024 Achievements
The IoP’s vision is to improve policing performance to help make every community in Ontario safer. Below are the 2024 milestones and key developments that flow from the IoP’s work in its first year of operations:
- Launched the Policing Insight Statement: The Policing Insight Statement is a first-of-its-kind IoP survey to gather perspectives from all of Ontario’s chiefs of police and police service boards to help identify areas of common opportunity and challenge across the sector. The information gleaned from the Insight Statements will assist the IoP in prioritizing where it applies the IG’s oversight to address the issues that matter most.
- Released The Inspector General of Policing’s first-ever Spotlight Report: The Spotlight Report, Policing of Protests and Major Events, was the most comprehensive, independent inspection of Ontario’s public order policing system. Inspector General Teschner concluded that Ontario’s public order policing is strong but under strain, and issued 12 recommendations for police services, boards, and the Ministry of the Solicitor General to improve the system’s long-term performance.
- Launched the first issue-specific inspection under the CSPA: The inspection of the Thunder Bay Police Service and Board began in October 2024. The inspection is examining how the police service conducts death and missing persons investigations, as well as how the police service and board are addressing recommendations issued by other oversight bodies that have reviewed policing and governance in Thunder Bay.
- The Nishnawbe Aski Nation Police Services (NAPS) Board marked a historic milestone by officially opting in as a First Nation board under the CSPA: By opting-in to the CSPA, NAPS gains access to a modern oversight system that is culturally informed – an important step in strengthening trust in policing within the communities that NAPS serves.
- Created a policing data and knowledge hub to drive intelligence-led decision making: The data collection efforts and analysis are integral to the Inspectorate’s modern oversight function. It is essential for understanding the gaps that need to be addressed and best practices that should be embraced to improve performance across the province.
- Empowered engagement with IoP website: The IoP’s website is the primary vehicle for the public to file complaints and track progress through the IoP portal. Under the CSPA, the IG may investigate complaints concerning the delivery of policing services and the conduct of police board members.
Looking Ahead
Among other developments, looking ahead the IoP will be working on:
- Preparing for a Thematic Inspection on Police Response Times: Arising both from the analysis of the Insight Statement surveys of the policing sector, and an identified trend in the public complaints we receive about police service delivery, it is clear that police response times is an issue that merits closer examination. The IoP’s work on police response time in Ontario reflects our commitment to meeting the needs of the public and using our oversight mandate to address the most urgent challenges in Ontario policing, ultimately to drive improved policing performance across the province.
- Enhancing Border Safety – The IoP’s Monitoring of Specific Police Operations: To enhance international border security and combat cross-border crime, the Ontario government launched Operation Deterrence. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) increased proactive patrols in the air, on land and on waterways to further deter, detect and disrupt illegal activity at Ontario’s border with the US. This work is carried out in collaboration with the OPP’s federal, municipal, and Indigenous policing partners. The IG has activated the ‘real-time’ monitoring aspect of his mandate and begun monitoring the Operation to ensure adequate and effective policing is delivered – both in relation to the Operation, and in line with the OPP’s broader policing responsibilities.
The IoP Driving Innovation Forward
To harness leading practice and continue to accelerate improved policing performance, the IoP is advancing several key initiatives as part of its oversight function:
- Establishing the IoP's 'Centre of Excellence': The Centre of Excellence will identify and promote leading practices while looking around corners to conduct research and engage with police leaders to proactively tackle emerging public safety issues and identify potential solutions. The goal is to significantly impact the policing and police governance landscape in Ontario by promoting best practices while driving continuous improvement.
- Building a Policing Performance Measurement Framework: The development of a Performance Measurement Framework will increase the IoP’s understanding of how well police services, boards and special constable employers are performing in the province. The IoP is conducting an environmental scan of national and international police performance measurement frameworks and engaging with policing research experts from academia and international organizations to develop a ‘made-in-Ontario’ model that will become a central source of information to identify strong performance and emerging risks that may require intervention through the application of the IG’s statutory mandate. The IoP will apply the ‘right tools, at the right time’ to effectively address risks and to help strengthen public confidence and trust through transparent reporting on performance across the sector.
About the Inspector General of Policing
Appointed in March 2023, Ryan Teschner is Ontario’s first Inspector General of Policing with independent duties and authorities under the Community Safety and Policing Act. The role of the Inspector General serves the public interest by promoting improved performance and accountability in the policing sector, while ensuring compliance with the CSPA and its regulations. Inspector General Teschner leads the Inspectorate of Policing, an oversight body dedicated to ensuring high-quality policing and governance across Ontario.
For more information, visit www.iopontario.ca and follow us on LinkedIn and X.