Provincewide campaign tackles 911 misuse, as nearly half the calls are not emergencies

Hamilton Spectator

09-05-2025

Nearly half of all 911 calls in the province are for non-emergencies. A new campaign, launched Thursday in Peel Region Headquarters in Brampton, hopes to change that.
The initiative, run by the provincial Emergency Services Steering Committee (ESSC), is dubbed 'When Every Second Counts' and is billed as the first-ever provincewide campaign aimed at tackling 911 misuse.
The campaign aims to educate the public on proper 911 usage, highlight the consequences of misuse and promote awareness of alternative non-emergency numbers.
Peel Region's health services commissioner and ESSC member Nancy Polsinelli said the campaign allows all municipalities and emergency services across Ontario to speak with one voice, noting 911 misuse is an issue throughout the province. She said the campaign features ads in 19 languages, social media posts and a website,
wheneverysecondcounts.ca
.
According to the ESSC, 911 operators across the province are under enormous strain to manage ever-growing call volumes, with about half of the calls being non-emergencies such as pocket dials, minor collisions, noise complaints and even incorrect restaurant orders.
People should call 911 for emergencies such as serious medical issues, fires, crimes in progress and serious collisions, said the ESSC, which provides advocacy and research on ways to contain the escalating emergency service costs and is comprised of municipalities that are part of the Big City Mayors of Ontario and the Mayors and Regional Chairs of Ontario.
Doug Nadorozny, the Town of Aurora's chief administrative officer and ESSC's past chair, said 911 misuse is 'a major cost driver' for emergency services.
'This misuse includes not only nuisance calls, but it also includes calls from residents seeking access to community services,' he said. 'Our research indicates that 30 per cent of Ontarians don't know what number to call other than 911 for answers to their questions about simple municipal services. Addressing this gap is crucial to both the fiscal responsibility of municipalities and the safety of the public.'
Polsinelli said the campaign will be annual and will last one month, but may be extended.
'We must use 911 when you're in an emergency, but if you're not in an emergency, there are other numbers,' she said in an interview. 'We need to get that message out there that 911 must be used in the right way.'
Polsinelli said she didn't know the cost of the campaign, noting the cost is worth it and would be shared by dozens of municipalities across the province.
The campaign's website also helps people find non-emergency numbers in their municipality.
'We're showing the public that all their calls matter, and they will get appropriate attention and an appropriate response if they call the appropriate number,' Polsinelli said.
Brampton Centre MPP and associate minister of women's social and economic opportunity Charmaine Williams said the campaign represents a 'vital step in ensuring that emergency resources are preserved for those who need it most.'
Williams said she was put on hold for seven minutes when she called 911 five years ago to report a 'scary' domestic violence incident near a relative's home in Brampton.
'You could hear the screams. You know it was something violent, so waiting for that (call taker) to pick up and take the details was excruciating,' she said in an interview following the campaign launch. 'Being on hold for seven minutes and knowing that the 911 operator might be responding to somebody complaining about their wrong pizza order just increases the frustration.'
Williams said the campaign helps address the amount of people who call 911 for the wrong reasons and clog up the system.
'This program is going to be very helpful in educating many across our province on who to call (and) when to call (911) so that we can have better response times when there's an emergency.'
In February 2024,
Peel Regional Police launched the Next Generation 911 (NG911) system
in an effort to reduce 911 wait times. The system uses more automation to help process accidental 911 calls and misdials in order to allow call takers to focus on real emergencies.
According to police, the average 911 wait time was 85 seconds in March 2023, compared to just 11 seconds in March 2024.
Peel police's communications centre has been the public safety answering point (PSAP) for Mississauga and Brampton since 1988, answering all 911 calls whether for police, fire or ambulance and forwarding fire and ambulance calls accordingly. Peel police was the first PSAP in the country to roll out NG911; the PSAP answers about a million calls per year.
Peel police deputy chief Anthony Odoardi said the average 911 wait time is now down to 'just under 10 seconds' in Mississauga and Brampton, noting eliminating the wait time completely is a 'realistic' target.
'I think with an education and awareness campaign, with communities knowing there are alternative numbers to call for non-emergency reasons, we can eliminate a significant number of calls coming in to our call centre and therefore answer 911 calls in real time. Zero second wait time. That's our goal.'
Visit
wheneverysecondcounts.ca
to find non-emergency numbers and for more information on the When Every Second Counts campaign.