About the Board
The Toronto Police Services Board is the seven member civilian body that governs and oversees the Toronto Police Service under Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (the Act). The Board is dedicated to ensuring that Toronto’s police services are delivered in partnership with our communities, to keep the city the best and safest place to be.
The Act requires the Board to, among other things: generally determine the objectives and priorities for police services in the municipality; set policies for the effective management of the police force; recruit and appoint the Chief of Police, Deputy Chiefs of Police, and Civilian Command Members; direct the Chief of Police and monitor their performance; negotiate the labour contracts with the associations/organizations representing the Service’s members; and, determine the budget for the police service.
The Board is responsible for ensuring the provision of adequate and effective police services in Toronto. As the employer of the Toronto Police Service, the Board is responsible for negotiating all labour contracts, the hiring and termination of all members, and reviewing the disciplinary processes applied by the Chief. The Board and Office of the Police Service Board work closely with the Chief of Police and senior leadership team to set the strategic vision for the Service, and provide oversight through policies and other legally binding direction. The Board also creates a forum for members of the public to engage and provide their perspectives and input concerning today’s policing issues.
Board Mandate
Sections 37-39 of the Community Safety and Policing Act define the role and duties of the Board.
The primary role of the Board is to ensure the delivery of adequate and effective policing in Toronto, while the Chief of Police is responsible for administering the police service and overseeing its operation in accordance with the objectives, priorities and policies set by the Board.
Distinguishing an “operational” matter that falls outside the Board’s jurisdiction from general management and policy matters that fall within the Board’s jurisdiction lies at the heart of the relationship between the Board and the Service. Section 40(4) of the Community Safety and Policing Act is intended to prevent direct Board interference in the actual policing function but not to prevent the Board from making decisions governing the structure and environment in which those policing functions occur, or from making decisions that may affect operations.
The Chief is authorized to make all operational decisions which are consistent with the governing law and Board policy. The Board, by revising its policies, may alter the scope of the Chief’s responsibilities.
The Chief of Police reports to the Board as a whole and is not accountable to any one or group of Board members. The Board has the authority to give orders and direction to the Chief of Police, but not to other members of the Service. The Board shall not direct the Chief with respect to specific operational decisions or with respect to day-to-day operations of the Service.
Board Budget
The Toronto Police Service Board is dedicated to transparency and public engagement in the development of the it’s annual budget for the Toronto Police Service. Read more about the Board’s commitment at the Board’s Budget Transparency Policy.
At its June 24, 2024 Meeting, the Toronto Police Service Board established a Budget Committee for the purpose of reviewing the Toronto Police Service’s 2025 capital, operating, and the Parking Enforcement Unit’s budget requests as well as the Board’s 2025 operating budget request, as they develop, prior to Board approval.
The Board appreved the on December 8, 2025 at 6:00pm. Please visit the Board’s Meeting Page to read the Budget Committee Meeting agenda and learn how to make a deputation.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Board has specific legislated responsibilities under the Community Safety and Policing Act:
- provide adequate and effective policing in the area for which it has policing responsibility;
- 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, owned by the board comply with the prescribed standards,
- prepare and adopt a strategic plan for the provision of policing, including, among other things, objectives, priorities and core functions of the police service;
- negotiate collective agreements; and
- approve the capital and operating budgets.
In addition, the Board is responsible for the creation of policies on a number of matters prescribed by the Act, any other matters related to the police service or the provision of policing.
The Board is accountable to both the community and to the Inspector General of Policing.
The Inspector General of Policing is a policing oversight body created under Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019. The Inspector General is responsible for ensuring policing is delivered adequately and effectively across Ontario and that police board members are complying with the Code of Conduct. The Inspector General exercises independent compliance oversight focused on ensuring police services, police service boards and board members, and special constable employers are complying with requirements under the CSPA for policing and police governance.
Members of the public can file complaints with the Inspector General concerning adequate and effective police service delivery, or allegations of police board member misconduct through the Inspectorate’s website .
The Community Safety and Policing Act establishes the number of Board members in direct relation to the population of the area it represents.
The Board elects a Chair and Vice-Chair at its first meeting of each year. The timing and election of the Chair is legislated by the Community Safety and Policing Act.
The Toronto Police Services Board is the only Board in Ontario to be headed by a full time Chair. This position carries a salary of $90,963. Despite the increasing complexity of the position, the salary has not changed since 1987.
City of Toronto Councillors are not compensated for their work on the Board; rather, this service is seen as part of their regular duties.
Since 2006, the remuneration for a citizen Vice-Chair is a combination of an annual honorarium of $13,750 plus a per diem payment of $350 with a cap on total remuneration of $22,500 (representing 25 per diem payments for attendance at board and committee meetings, and for required training days); and the remuneration for other citizen members is a combination of an annual honorarium of $8,750 plus a per diem payment of $350 with a cap on total remuneration of $15,750 (representing 20 per diem payments for attendance at board and committee meetings, and for required training days).
Board Members are governed by a code of conduct.
How to apply to be on the Police Services Board
There are a number of ways you can become a Board member.
You can get appointed to the Board by
- the Province,
- the City of Toronto,
- being the City of Toronto Mayor or designate,
- being a City Councillor and elected by your fellow Councillors to serve on the Board.
The Community Safety and Policing Act sets out who will be members of the Board. In Toronto, it states that three members will be appointed by the provincial government; one member will be the Mayor of Toronto (or, if the mayor chooses not to, a City of Toronto Councillor selected by the City of Toronto Council); two members will be City of Toronto Councillors and one member will be a citizen selected by the City of Toronto Council.
To serve the Board with legal documents, please contact us in advance by email or by phone at 416-808-8080, to ensure we will be able to accept the documents at our offices located at Toronto Police Headquarters at 40 College Street.