Town to launch 311 number to connect with residents

October 28, 2021 · 0 Comments

By Rob Paul

In January 2018, the Town of Caledon launched Service Caledon in an effort to have staff implement changes to improve service to residents of Caledon.

The idea was to ensure that residents could refer to the Town for accurate and responsive information when needed.

The Town launched the Service Excellence Guidelines to set the expectation of strong service delivery and provided staff with Service Excellence Training as part of the process.

Now to help improve on the service to residents and make it easier to navigate as part of Service Caledon, the Town is implementing a 311 initiative after Council approval.

The initiative will give all Caledon residents access to 311 to connect with the Town.

Caledon’s 311 will officially launch in January of 2022 and will replace the need for residents to call the Town’s general number.

311 is a well-known phone number for municipal services in Ontario that can be accessed by residents easily and conveniently. The 311 initiative will be part of the 2021 budget and will cost approximately $15,000 annually for the Town to run—between maintenance and cost per call to the number.

“Over the next several months, staff will be working with neighbouring municipalities, Bell Canada and Introtel (our current telecom provider),” stated Catherine McLean, Town Director of Customer Service and Communications. “At this time, the launch of 311 is expected to go live January 2022 and will coincide with onboarding Municipal Law Enforcement complaints.”

Staff will continue to update Council on customer service excellence improvements and will be bringing forward a Customer Service Policy to address service expectations and customer conduct.