Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Police Chief Myron Demkiw will provide an update on 911 and emergency services response times on Tuesday.
Chow and Demkiw will speak at 8:30 a.m. alongside Chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, Shelley Carroll.
In October 2024, CityNews reported that delays in getting through to the Toronto Police Service’s 911 communications centre were still prevalent for those seeking immediate assistance.
The Toronto police communications centre is the first point of contact for anyone in the city who calls 911, including people who call about medical, fire, and crime-related emergencies.
According to figures shared in October, the average answering time for 911 calls was 1:07.
After analyzing data between 2018 and 2021, the auditor general’s office found the Toronto Police Service on average didn’t meet the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)‘s standard of answering 90 per cent of 911 calls within 15 seconds. They said call volume and staffing levels were the two biggest factors.
With files from Nick Westoll of CityNews
