Saliem Talash: How to use Toronto 311 and actually get the pothole fixed

Every city has a list of small problems that nobody owns until someone reports them: the pothole that has been eating tires since March, the streetlight that flickers, the graffiti on the underpass, the tree branch hanging over the sidewalk. In Toronto, almost all of them go through one door, and that door is 311.

Plenty of people know the number and never use it, usually because they assume nothing will happen. What happens next depends a lot on how the request is made. I'm Saliem Talash, I live in Toronto and build practical tools for small businesses, and this is a short guide to using 311 well, based on the City's own pages as of October 2026.

What 311 is for

The City describes 311 as the place for "non-emergency City services, programs and information." It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the City says it "can offer assistance in more than 180 languages."

The City's own 311 service standard dashboard tracks the kinds of requests it receives most often, and the list is a good picture of what 311 is for:

  • property standards;
  • noise;
  • graffiti;
  • dead wildlife pickup;
  • garbage collection and overflowing bins;
  • potholes;
  • trees and pruning.

Snow is another big one. The City's sidewalk clearing page says to contact 311 to report a property owner who has not cleared their sidewalk, and its road-clearing pages direct snow-related issues to 311 as well.

What 311 is not for

Two things.

Emergencies. The City's FAQ is blunt: "Only call 9-1-1 in an emergency." A fire, a medical emergency or anyone in danger is a 911 call, never a 311 one.

Blue bin recycling. Since January 1, 2026, residential recycling in Toronto has been run by Circular Materials. The City's page says missed recycling pickups and bin problems now go to Circular Materials, through its website or at 1-888-921-2686, rather than to 311.

Three ways to reach it

By phone. Call 311 from within Toronto, or 416-392-CITY (2489) from outside the city. The City says calling 311 is free, although pay phone and mobile airtime costs still apply, and it does not accept collect calls. The TTY number is 711.

Online. The 311 page has four starting points: "Submit a Service Request or Feedback," "Track a Service Request or Feedback," "Find Service Information" and "Explore Your Neighbourhood." Online is the best choice for anything where a photo or an exact location helps.

In person. The City lists 311 counters at City Hall and the Scarborough Civic Centre, open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

There is also a 311 Toronto mobile app linked from the City's request page, which is useful for reporting something while you are standing in front of it.

The reference number is the whole game

This is the single most important thing on this page. The City's FAQ says: "When you submit a service request with 311, you will be given a reference number." You use it to check the status on the 311 tracking page, which asks you to "enter the reference number that you received from 311 to check the status of your service request."

And then the warning: "If you lose it, we cannot provide you with a new one."

So the moment you get the number, save it somewhere you will find it again. A screenshot is fine. A note in your phone titled "311" with the date, the location and the number is better. If you report things often, a simple running list turns into a record of what you asked for, when, and what happened.

How to write a request the City can act on

A request gets routed to a crew or an inspector who has never seen what you saw. Write it for that person.

  1. Location first, and precise. A street address is best. If there is no address, name the nearest intersection and the side of the street: "north side of the street, about 20 metres east of the intersection, in the curb lane." For parks and paths, describe a landmark.
  2. One problem per request. A pothole and a broken streetlight on the same block are two requests, handled by two different teams. Combining them slows both.
  3. Size and severity, in plain numbers. "About 40 cm across and deep enough to hit a rim" is far more useful than "huge."
  4. When you noticed it, and whether it is getting worse.
  5. A photo, if you are submitting online.
  6. Your contact details, so the City can ask a follow-up question rather than closing the request.

Then leave it alone for a while. Different services have different response times, and the dashboard is the City's own place to see how it is tracking.

When nothing seems to happen

Check the status with your reference number before you do anything else. A request may be scheduled, transferred to another division, or closed with a note that explains why.

If it was closed and the problem is still there, submit a new request that mentions the earlier reference number and says, factually, what is still wrong. "Reported on this date under this number; the pothole is still open and has grown" gives the next person context. Polite and specific works better than angry and vague, for the simple reason that the person reading it can act on specific.

A small habit that helps a neighbourhood

The 311 system works on reports. A problem nobody reports may simply not be on anyone's list. If you walk the same route every day, a two-minute report when something breaks is one of the most useful small things you can do for the people who walk it after you.

I write more practical guides to living and working in Toronto on ZELR, and keep my small-business tools on my site.

Sources

  • City of Toronto: 311 Toronto
  • City of Toronto: Create a Service Request
  • City of Toronto: About 311 (frequently asked questions)
  • City of Toronto: Track a Service Request or Feedback
  • City of Toronto: 311 Service Standard Dashboard
  • City of Toronto: Toronto's Recycling Program
  • City of Toronto: Sidewalk Clearing
  • City of Toronto: Salting and Plowing Roads

Drafted with AI assistance.

More from Saliem Talash: saliemtalash.vercel.app · ZELR · YouTube

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