Municipal Complaint Policy

On April 18th, 2016, Council adopted By-law No. 2016-23 being a by-law to establish a Municipal Complaint Policy. This policy is intended to enable the Township of Cavan Monaghan to promptly and effectively address program and service delivery concerns raised by members of the public. The policy will assist the municipality in providing excellent service to the public, and contribute to continuous improvement of operations. The Municipality will strive to reduce customer dissatisfaction by:

• Providing a timely and accurate response to complaints; and Using complaints as an opportunity to improve program and service delivery issues.

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction related to operations, a municipal service or program, facility, or staff member, where a citizen believes that the municipality has not provided a service experience to the customer's satisfaction at the point of service delivery and a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.

A complaint is distinct from:

• a request for service made on behalf of a citizen for a specific service, or to notify the municipality that a scheduled service was not provided on time;
• a general enquiry or specific request for information regarding municipal service;
• an expression of approval or compliment for a municipal staff member, program, product or process; or
• a suggestion or idea submitted by a customer with the aim of improving services, programs, products or processes.

This policy is not for complaints:

• regarding staff that are employed by a service provider contracted by the municipality, these employees shall be subject to the policies of that service provider;
• issues addressed by legislation, or an existing municipal by-law, policy or procedure;
• a decision of Council or a decision of a Committee of Council;
• internal employee complaints; or matters that are handled by tribunals, courts of law, quasi-judicial boards, etc.

Frontline Resolution

Departments are encouraged to resolve matters informally as complaints are received prior to any written or formal process. Department Head's shall ensure all staff has clear direction and authority to resolve frontline matters.

It is the responsibility of the complainant to attempt to resolve concerns by dealing with the appropriate Township Department directly involved with the issue where appropriate. For a list of departments and appropriate contacts click here.

It is the responsibility of all Township employees to attempt to resolve issues or concerns before they become complaints, and identify opportunities to improve municipal services.

Complaint Process

For details on how to file a complaint and how it is processed please see the Municipal Complaints Policy.

Complaints can be completed online or by downloading and printing the enclosed form and emailing or faxing it to the Clerk: Cindy Page, cpage@cavanmonaghan.net Fax: 705-932-3458.