Police Service Boards (PSB) exist wherever a municipality or First Nation has responsibility for policing. That can be through a local police service or a contract with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
Every municipality may establish a municipal board to have policing responsibility for the municipality.
Every municipal board shall maintain a police service and, for greater certainty, shall not maintain more than one police service.
Section 22 of the Community Safety and Policing Act
Municipalities may also amalgamate their police services with one or more other municipalities and establish a Joint Police Services Board.
Boards are responsible for providing ‘adequate and effective police services’ to their residents under the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA). This includes preparing and approving police operating and capital budget estimates which are one of the largest municipal expenditures, ranging from 10% to 33% of total municipal spending.
On April 1, 2024 Ford government’s Bill 68, Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act repealed the Police Services Act (PSA) and the Members of Police Services Boards Code of Conduct and enacted the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA) and the Code of Conduct for Police Service Board Members.
What is a Police Service Board?
A PSB is a civilian oversight body and local board of a municipality that governs the municipality’s police service through its authority from the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA) to ensure that adequate and effective police services are provided. It must meet at least 4 times per year and members must follow the Members of Police Service Boards Code of Conduct.
Adequate and effective policing means all of the following functions provided in accordance with the standards set out in the regulations, including the standards with respect to the avoidance of conflicts of interest, and with the requirements of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Human Rights Code:
Section 11 of the CSPA
- Crime prevention.
- Law enforcement.
- Maintaining the public peace.
- Emergency response.
- Assistance to victims of crime.
- Any other prescribed policing functions.
Types of PSBs
- Municipal Police Service Boards – govern a local police service operated by a single municipality
- First Nation boards – govern First Nation police services established under agreements with the province
- OPP Detachment Boards – serve municipalities and First Nations that receive policing from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)
Who is on a PSB?
The municipal board shall be composed of five members unless the municipality passes a resolution to change the number of members
The municipality may determine, by resolution, that its municipal board shall be composed of five, seven or nine members.
Section 31 of the CSPA
5 member boards
A municipal board that is composed of five members shall consist of,
- the head of the municipal council or, if the head chooses not to be or is ineligible to be a member of the board, another member of the municipal council appointed by resolution of the municipality;
- one member of the municipal council appointed by resolution of the municipality;
- one person appointed by resolution of the municipality, who is neither a member of the municipal council nor an employee of the municipality; and
- two persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
7 member boards
A municipal board that is composed of seven members shall consist of,
- the head of the municipal council or, if the head chooses not to be or is ineligible to be a member of the board, another member of the municipal council appointed by resolution of the municipality;
- two members of the municipal council appointed by resolution of the municipality;
- one person appointed by resolution of the municipality, who is neither a member of the municipal council nor an employee of the municipality; and
- three persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
9 member boards
A municipal board that is composed of nine members shall consist of,
- the head of the municipal council or, if the head chooses not to be or is ineligible to be a member of the board, another member of the municipal council appointed by resolution of the municipality;
- three members of the municipal council appointed by resolution of the municipality;
- one person appointed by resolution of the municipality, who is neither a member of the municipal council nor an employee of the municipality; and
- four persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
Provincial members are appointed by the Ontario Government – Lieutenant Governor, by Order in Council:
Member eligibility
To become a board member you must:
- Complete a police record check
- Take an oath or affirmation of office
- Complete training requirements (see below)
Member ineligibility
The following may not be a member of a police board:
- Judge or justice of the peace
- Police officer – present or past, unless they weren’t a member of the police service being overseen
- Person who practices criminal law as a defence counsel
Member requirements
Board members are required to complete training on:
- Role of the police service board
- Human rights and systemic racism
- Diverse, multiracial and multicultural character of Ontario society
- Rights and cultures of First Nation, Inuit and Métis Peoples
Members of Police Service Boards Code of Conduct
Members must also follow and adhere to the Members of Police Service Boards Code of Conduct, which covers:
- Conduct
- Statements
- Attendance
- Conflicts of interest
Pay
Provincially appointed members of a police service board are paid a daily rate of at least $150 by the municipality as required by provincial legislation.
Elected and citizen members often receive an annual honorarium and/or per diem payment for each meeting.
Term
The term of office for a member of a municipal board appointed by resolution of a municipality shall be set out by the municipality in his or her appointment, but shall not exceed the term of office of the municipal council that appointed the member.
Section 34 of the CSPA
What is a PSB responsible for?
The Police Service Board is responsible for:
- Prepare and approve the annual police operating and capital budgets prior to to submitting it to council for approval
- Prepare an Annual Report and publish it online
- Prepare a Strategic Plan and publish it online at least once every 4 years
- Prepare a Diversity Plan and publish it online
- Prepare the policies required and publish them online
- Recruit and appoint the Chief and Deputy Chiefs of Police
- Give directions to the Chief of Police
- Conduct a review of the Chief of Police’s performance annually
- Appointing members of the police service
- Participate as the employer in the collective bargaining and working agreement with the Police Association. PSB and Police Associations are required by Section 90 of the Labour Relations Act to file their Collective Agreements with the Ministry of Labour. All Collective Agreements in Ontario must be filed and can be found in the e-Library Portal.
A police service board shall,
Section 37 of the CSPA
- ensure that adequate and effective policing is provided in the area for which it has policing responsibility as required by section 10;
- employ members of the police service;
- appoint members of the police service as police officers;
- recruit and appoint the chief of police and any deputy chief of police and determine their remuneration and working conditions, taking their submissions into account;
- prepare and adopt a diversity plan to ensure that the members of the police service reflect the diversity of the area for which the board has policing responsibility;
- monitor the chief of police’s performance;
- conduct a review of the chief of police’s performance at least annually in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, if any;
- monitor the chief of police’s decisions regarding the restrictions on secondary activities set out in section 89 and review the reports from the chief of police on those decisions;
- monitor the chief of police’s handling of discipline within the police service;
- ensure that any police facilities, including police lock-ups, used by the board comply with the prescribed standards, if any; and
- perform such other duties as are assigned to it by or under this or any other Act, including any prescribed duties. 2019, c. 1, Sched. 1, s. 37 (1); 2023, c. 12, Sched. 1, s. 16.
CSPA does not permit the Board to direct the Chief with respect to operational decisions or the day-to-day operation of the service.
Salary levels are set by negotiation and are beyond the power of the chief or board to change, if council wants the police budget lowered, it needs to provide leadership on where those cuts come from, namely reduced levels or service, reduced civilian or police staff or fewer other initiatives provided by the service such as the Kids Zone or the like.
The Intelligencer, 2013
Liability
(1) A police service board is liable for the acts or omissions of members of its police service committed in the course of their employment.
(4) The municipality is responsible for the liabilities incurred by the police service board under subsections (1), (2) and (3).
Section 47
PSBs can establish its own committees
A police service board may, by by-law,
(a) establish a committee and delegate any of the board’s powers under this Act to the committee; or
(b) if any power of the board under this Act is prescribed for the purposes of this section, delegate that power to an employee of the board who is not a member of the police service or to the chief of police.
Section 42
Board and committee meetings must be open to the public by default
(3) Subject to section 44, meetings conducted by the police service board, or by a committee of the board, shall be open to the public.
Section 42
Before holding a meeting, a police service board, or a committee of the board, shall,
Section 44
- (a) consider whether to close the meeting or part of the meeting to the public, having regard to the matters listed in subsections (2) and (3); and
- (b) if the board or committee decides to close the meeting or part of the meeting, state by resolution,
- (i) the fact of the holding of the closed meeting and the general nature of the matter to be considered at the closed meeting, or
- (ii) in the case of a meeting under subsection (6), the fact of the holding of the closed meeting, the general nature of its subject-matter and that it is to be closed under that subsection.
Discretionary
(2) The meeting or part of the meeting may be closed to the public if the subject matter being considered is,
- (a) the security of the property of the board;
- (b) personal matters about an identifiable individual, including members of the police service or any other employees of the board;
- (c) a proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the board;
- (d) labour relations or employee negotiations;
- (e) litigation or potential litigation affecting the board, including matters before administrative tribunals;
- (f) advice that would be inadmissible in a court by reason of any privilege under the law of evidence, including communications necessary for that purpose;
- (g) information explicitly supplied in confidence to the board by Canada, a province or territory or a Crown agency of any of them, a municipality or a First Nation;
- (h) a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the board, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization;
- (i) a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial or financial information that belongs to the board and has monetary value or potential monetary value;
- (j) a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the board;
- (k) information that section 8 of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act would authorize a refusal to disclose if it were contained in a record; or
- (l) an ongoing investigation respecting the police service board.
Mandatory
(3) A meeting or part of a meeting of a police service board, or of a committee of the board, shall be closed to the public if the subject matter being considered is a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Section 44
What plans and policies must a Police Service Board have?
Meetings
The police service board shall hold at least four meetings each year.
Section 43
Publishing a Strategic Plan online
The police service board shall, in accordance with the regulations, if any, prepare and adopt a strategic plan for the provision of policing, which shall address at least the following matters:
- How the police service board will ensure the provision of adequate and effective policing in accordance with the needs of the population of the area.
- The objectives, priorities and core functions of the police service.
- Quantitative and qualitative performance objectives and indicators of outcomes relating to,
- the provision of community-based crime prevention initiatives, community patrol and criminal investigation services,
- community satisfaction with the policing provided,
- emergency calls for service,
- violent crime and clearance rates for violent crime,
- property crime and clearance rates for property crime,
- youth crime and clearance rates for youth crime,
- police assistance to victims of crime and re-victimization rates,
- interactions with persons described in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this subsection,
- road safety, and
- any other prescribed matters.
- Interactions with,
- youths,
- members of racialized groups, and
- members of First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities.
- Interactions with persons who appear to have a mental illness or a neurodevelopmental disability.
- Information technology.
- Resource planning.
- Police facilities.
- Any other prescribed matters
(6) The police service board shall publish the strategic plan on the Internet in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, if any.
Section 39 of the Community Safety and Policing Act
Annual Report must be published online
On or before June 30 in each year, the police service board shall file an annual report with its municipality or band council regarding,
- the implementation of the board’s strategic plan and the achievement of the performance objectives identified in the strategic plan;
- the affairs of the police service;
- the provision of policing as it relates to any community safety and well-being plans adopted by the municipalities or First Nations that are in the board’s area of policing responsibility; and
- any other prescribed matters.
The police service board shall publish the annual report referred to in subsection (1) on the Internet in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, if any.
Section 41 of the CSPA
Community Safety and Well-Being Plan must be published online
Every municipality shall prepare and, by resolution, adopt a community safety and well-being plan.
Section 248 of the CSPA
A community safety and well-being plan shall,
(a) identify risk factors in the municipality or First Nation, including, without limitation, systemic discrimination and other social factors that contribute to crime, victimization, addiction, drug overdose and suicide and any other risk factors prescribed by the Minister;
(b) identify which risk factors the municipality or First Nation will treat as a priority to reduce;
(c) identify strategies to reduce the prioritized risk factors, including providing new services, changing existing services, improving the integration of existing services or coordinating existing services in a different way;
(d) set out measurable outcomes that the strategies are intended to produce;
(e) address any other issues that may be prescribed by the Minister; and
(f) contain any other information that may be prescribed by the Minister.
Section 251 of the CSPA
A municipality that has adopted a community safety and well-being plan shall publish it on the Internet in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, if any.
Section 252 of the CSPA
Diversity Plan must be published online
Every municipality that maintains a municipal board shall prepare and, by resolution, approve a diversity plan to ensure that the members of the municipal board appointed by the municipality are representative of the diversity of the population in the municipality.
The plan shall be published on the Internet in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, if any.
Section 28 of the CSPA
Mandatory policies must be published online
A police service board shall establish policies respecting,
- the administration of the police service;
- the provision of adequate and effective policing in accordance with the needs of the population of the area for which it has policing responsibility;
- disclosure by the chief of police of personal information about individuals;
- disclosure of secondary activities under section 89 and decisions under that section;
- the handling of discipline within the police service;
- subject to subsection (4), the indemnification of members of the police service for legal costs; and
- any other prescribed matters.
In addition to the policies required by subsection (1), a police service board may establish policies respecting any other matters related to the police service or the provision of policing.
The police service board shall publish the policies referred to in subsections (1) and (2) on the Internet in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, if any.
Section 38 of the CSPA
What laws govern a Police Service Board?
Police Service Board meetings must be open to the public, with some exceptions (as with all municipal committee meetings).
If you believe that a meeting was closed to the public improperly (ie. the reason doesn’t fall within one of the 14 exceptions), you can submit a complaint to the Ontario Ombudsman (see past Police Board cases here).
Municipalities are limited in their ability to hold local police forces accountable
Municipalities are also limited in their ability to hold local police forces to account. Historically, police boards have been structured as independent agencies of municipal government, to ensure that elected officials do not provide operational direction to police. As much as this provision insulates police decisions from political interference, it also obscures democratic oversight.
The Municipal Role in Policing – U of T Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG)
Communities policed by OPP have OPP Detachment Board
Municipalities that do not have their own police service and are instead served by the OPP through an OPP detachment will have one or more OPP Detachment Boards. They ensure each municipality and First Nation community has an opportunity to represent their local perspectives, needs and priorities.
PSBs are regulated by the Inspectorate of Policing (IoP)
IoP has legal authority to investigate certain types of complaints about municipal police services, police chiefs, police service boards and their members to ensure compliance with Ontario’s CSPA and its regulations through inspections, investigations, and advisory services.
- Responding to public complaints concerning adequate and effective police service delivery and allegations of police board member misconduct;
- Examining performance of police services and boards through independent inspections, investigations, monitoring and advising;
- Identifying effective performance and, where improvements are needed, using new enforcement tools uniquely available to the Inspector General, including issuing directions and imposing measures to ensure compliance with the CSPA and its regulations;
- Imposing measures to ensure the provision of adequate and effective policing or in cases of a policing emergency;
- Conducting data analysis and research through the Inspectorate’s Centre of Data Intelligence and Innovation to promote evidence-based actions and improvements; and,
- Publicly reporting on the activities of the IG.
Submitting a complaint about a police service board
You can submit a complaint about police services, police service boards, and organizations that employ special constables for violations of the Community Safety and Policing Act and its regulations.
- Online complaint form
- [email protected]
- 416-314-4130 or 1-888-333-5078
Police Services Boards do not handle complaints about police conduct. They are handled by Law Enforcement Complaints Agency, or:
- Ontario Special Investigations Unit (see Special Investigations Unit Act)
- Ontario Police Arbitration and Adjudication Commission
Ontario Association of Police Services Boards
Many PSB are members of the Ontario Association of Police Service Boards (OAPSB), the representative body for police governance in Ontario. It equips every police board with the knowledge to govern effectively through advocacy, expertise, and education.
Police boards play a fundamental role in our citizens perception of public safety and their confidence in the police. You are responsible for ensuring that police have the direction, support, respect, and accountability that they require to keep your communities safe and thriving. This responsibility is equally shared by municipal police services boards, First Nation boards and OPP police services boards.
As your association, it is our responsibility to support you in this endeavor and to provide you with the expertise, tools and education you need to meet your legislative requirements under the Police Services Act and the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA), expected to come into force in late 2023.
Ontario Association of Police Service Boards (OAPSB)
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