The Strategic Plan for Policing in Toronto
Toronto is home to approximately 3 million residents and is one of the most complex policing environments in Canada. The city’s size, diversity, and growing population create a need for a police service that is modern, grounded in public trust, and community centered.
The introduction of the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (Act), which came into effect in 2024, marked a significant evolution in Ontario’s policing oversight landscape. The Act requires every police service board to develop a strategic plan that establishes objectives, priorities, and performance measures to ensure policing is adequate, effective, and responsive to community needs.
Our Plan
Our plan sets the direction for policing in Toronto over the next four years. It reflects what community members consistently told us matters most: greater trust and transparency, stronger accountability, safer communities, equitable service delivery, and better collaboration across the city. It also strengthens how policing services prevent and respond to crime and victimization, while contributing to broader community safety and well-being outcomes.
More than 1,200 community members, partners, advocates, service providers, and Service members shared their perspectives on the future of policing in Toronto. Their message was clear: policing in Toronto should continue to evolve to meet the needs of a growing, diverse, and dynamic city.
Informed by community input and working in collaboration with the Service, the Board has identified five strategic priorities that form a modern, accountable, and community-centered police service.
“This Plan lays out a strong path for the future of policing in Toronto. We are committed to our ongoing efforts to reinforce public confidence and support the evolution of policing. While the Board does not manage operations, this provides a strong framework and direction that will improve community safety, helping the Service make Toronto the safest city in Canada”
– Councillor Shelley Carroll, Chair, Toronto Police Service Board
Strategic Priorities
1. Transparent and trusted governance:
we will strengthen oversight and make decision-making more accessible, supported by evidence and risk management practices.
Key actions: modernize Board policies, oversee development of an enterprise risk management framework, establish a new audit and risk management committee, and provide timely and clear information on Board decisions and progress.
2. Supporting an agile and engaged workforce:
we will support a diverse and well-prepared workforce that can meet Toronto’s evolving public safety needs.
Key actions: monitor the multi-year hiring plan and ensure evidence-based workforce planning, oversee a people plan focused on well-being, diversity, inclusion, and strengthen transparent and equitable hiring, promotion, and retention practices.
3. Increasing safety in both fact and perception:
we will ensure safety outcomes are visible, measurable, and meaningful to residents.
Key actions: develop and report on public safety and perception indicators, advance technology modernization, and oversee implementation of a public safety risk model.
4. Evolving policing in a dynamic city:
we will align policing with Toronto’s changing expectations and diverse communities.
Key actions: complete long-standing reforms with transparent reporting, continue supporting alternative safety responses, and advance continuous improvement aligned with Ontario’s oversight framework.
5. Reciprocal partnerships moving policing and communities together:
we will deepen partnerships and strengthen engagement to support community safety outcomes.
Key actions: enhance engagement practices, develop an Indigenous engagement and relationship building strategy, and promote multi-sector collaboration.
Together, these strategic priorities are the pillars that form a coherent vision for the future of policing in Toronto and a clearer path toward upholding public trust, creating safer communities, and strengthening partnerships with the city’s communities.
To ensure we deliver on our commitments, progress will be publicly reported each year, and the strategic plan will be reviewed every four years to ensure it reflects the needs of the communities we serve.