Recommendation 1: The Commissioner’s wellness priority requires expert support and collaboration

  1. Constitute a Provincial Wellness Advisory Table chaired by the Commissioner with membership that includes uniform and civilian members, bargaining agents, retirees, families, mental health clinicians and a representative from each Regional Wellness Advisory Table (see 1b) to provide guidance and advice on policies and programming related to mental health.
  2. Constitute a Regional Wellness Advisory Table in each region to address mental health and wellness in the region, chaired by the Regional Commander and reporting to the provincial table. Membership at this table should include local/regional representatives of uniform and civilian members, bargaining agents, retirees, families and mental health clinicians.
  3. Along with the discussion of these recommendations and those contained in the OPP Suicide Review and the Mental Health Review, the following are priority topics for the Wellness Tables:
    • reducing stigma surrounding mental health
    • exploring the role that use of force plays in self-identification as police
    • developing a successful RTW model, including meaningful accommodation
    • partnering with the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA) on how best to collaboratively deliver ‘wrap-around’ support services
  4. The Panel endorses the concept of the member roundtables conducted as part of the Mental Health Review and urges the Commissioner to continue and repeat the roundtables on a regular basis, perhaps every three years.
  5. The Panel encourages the leadership team to build on the recommendations in the Mental Health Review, the OPP Suicide Review and the Chief Coroner’s Expert Panel Report.
  6. The Commissioner and the OPP should continue to build dialogue and best practices with other community, Indigenous, provincial, national and global leaders focused on wellness and resilience in policing.

Recommendation 2: Wellness as an organizational priority requires dedicated resources

  1. Health and wellness should be viewed as an integrated and holistic portfolio, encompassing the physical, psychological, social and spiritual health of members. The Panel endorses the establishment of a new Healthy Workplace Bureau (HWB), containing the responsibility for the wellness and resilience of the organization and its members. All health and wellness services, chaplaincy, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and should be included in the mandate of the Healthy Workplace Bureau. While the decision for the reporting relationship of the HWB rests with the Commissioner, it should be separate from Human Resources.
  2. The HWB should include credible and expert leadership, headed by a member of the Commissioner’s leadership team and a significant number of uniform and civilian staff with ‘lived experience’ on the frontline of policing, mental health clinicians to provide direct support to members and guidance for programming, sufficient trained staff to support members and managers as they navigate the various wellness services available to members, and manage important relationships such as the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and Long-Term Income Protection (LTIP) carriers.
  3. The current Wellness Unit should be moved to the HWB and its mandate and resourcing model realigned to respond to the recommendations made in this Report, the OPP Suicide Review and the Mental Health Review, along with other best practices.
  4. The HWB must have direct ties into each region through embedded employees located in an HWB Hub in the region to provide support, guidance and early intervention/resolution to members and to managers.
  5. The HWB must have an active communication strategy that works closely with the Commissioner’s office and includes information sharing direct to members, ongoing outreach to off-work members and retirees, regular communication with frontline managers and an active family engagement program that is locally implemented.
  6. Sufficient resources should be allocated to the HWB to achieve effective central administration and regional/local implementation. The Ministry of the Solicitor General and Treasury Board Secretariat should work directly with the Commissioner to develop a responsive business case with new permanent funding for wellness and resilience.
  7. In conjunction with the analysis stemming from the Chief Coroner’s Expert Panel Report and other best practices, the HWB should develop a model of data analytics and meaningful data collection, with both quantitative and qualitative inputs, to support the Commissioner and the HWB in fulfilling their mandates and commitments. An Annual Report on the health and wellness of the organization and its members should be produced and shared across the OPP.

Recommendation 3: Culture change requires prioritization of leadership skills throughout the organization

  1. The development of curriculum and culture change activities related to leadership skills should extend beyond the current training and requirements. New approaches that support a change in mindset and behaviour must be introduced.
  2. Leadership skills, including ‘people’ skills, empathy, interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, communication, and resiliency should be prioritized as essential skills for promotions at every level.
  3. Mentoring and training programs for current, new and future leaders should focus on people including resilience and leadership skills.
  4. Leaders at every level should take part in regular and ongoing leadership skills training that is people-centred and includes empathy, interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, decision-making and guiding a team, coaching, resiliency and supporting staff.
  5. Leadership training should include specific training on supporting employees with mental health challenges and building and maintaining a psychologically healthy organizational culture, including self-care and support for managers.
  6. Management performance plans should include expectations that align with the leadership responsibilities outlined in this Report.
  7. The organizational expectations for all staff with respect to leadership should be modelled and regularly communicated by the Commissioner and his leadership team.

Recommendation 4: The promotional process should be transparent and support people-focused leadership

  1. To ensure real and perceived fairness, the promotional process should include:
    • participation in promotional decisions by neutral members of management such as those stationed outside the local area
    • seeking the input of members into key promotional decisions through the use of tools such as an appropriate 360 assessment
    • clear and transparent decision-making with feedback for those not chosen
  2. A review of the promotional policies and process should be conducted with insight from members across the province to ensure that the process is aligned with the organizational expectations of leadership and supports choosing individuals who demonstrate leadership capacity.

Recommendation 5: A holistic approach to mental health programming is required

  1. The approach to mental health literacy and programming should encompass a varied set of options, including in-person dialogues with trained peers and clinicians, online resources and group discussion. These options should be flexible and easily adapted to the various and disparate needs of members across the province. These options should be readily accessible and locally available.
  2. As a part of the enhanced focus on mental health and wellness in the HWB, a program review and evaluation of the efficacy of current mental health services should be conducted, with input from the Provincial Wellness Advisory Table. However, this review should not delay or prevent immediate action to enhance the accessibility and quality of mental health supports to members including the recommendations for action in this Report.
  3. The approach given to all recruits through the Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) program and other widely applied programs on mental health literacy should be regularly reinforced and applied throughout the work life of members in order to ensure that a common language for mental health is available and used by all members.
  4. Support for members seeking wellness services must include immediate access to an individual who can assist the member in navigating the available options. This support should be made broadly available as quickly as possible in order to assist members while the organization shifts some elements of its service delivery in response to this and other reports.

Recommendation 6: Regular engagement with members and families is required to support wellness

  1. Mental health literacy training for all members should be ongoing, regular and mandatory. Members should be required to engage in regular ‘resilience recertification’ akin to other operational training, such as use of force. It should include modules on recognizing the signs of strain, talking about mental health, providing support for peers and managing crisis.
  2. Regular psychological assessments should be considered for all members, regardless of whether they have experienced a critical incident, as well as members upon their retirement.
  3. An outreach program for families should be implemented, in collaboration with the OPPA, that stays connected to families throughout member employment, providing information on the challenges of police work, mental health literacy and opportunities for dialogue, community and peer engagement.
  4. A collaboration between OPP, OPPA and OPP Veterans’ Association (OPPVA) should result in robust retirement supports including a pre-retirement psychological assessment, meetings and information about available services, a peer network for retirees and a set of pre-determined check-ins with recently retired members.
  5. Continue efforts at the OPP Academy and OPC to socialize new recruits and their families to the realities of police work and to build a foundation of mental health literacy. Peer support and in-person dialogues, including peer support programs for families, should be incorporated at this stage.
  6. Recruitment of new members should include early dialogue on resilience and the realities of police work. Greater information on mental health and the potential to reactivate existing trauma, a psychological interview and a two-person interview panel should be considered as potential enhancements to the recruitment process.
  7. Members with lived experience should be encouraged and supported to speak openly with other members about their experiences. This dialogue, while critical as a part of peer support for individuals, should also form part of ongoing mental wellness activities across the OPP.

Recommendation 7: The number of clinicians and service models available to provide mental health services to members should be increased and new options explored

  1. The Ministry of the Solicitor General and the OPP should allocate funding in the OPP budget for at least one specialized clinician per region, working with the regional HWB, available to support members in the region.
  2. Work with the appropriate medical and educational bodies to consider a wider group of professions, including nurses and social workers, able to provide different mental health services to police and other first responders across the province:
    • the HWB should partner with the training bodies in those professions to increase the number of individuals with training in police-specific trauma response
    • the Ministry of the Solicitor General and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities should explore targeted partnerships with universities and colleges in underserved areas, such as Lakehead and Laurentian in the North, to build regional and local capacity for mental health services
    • the Ministry of the Solicitor General and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities should explore the potential for mental health professionals to obtain specialized certification in the treatment of police, military and first responders
  3. The Ministry of the Solicitor General and the Ministry of Health should allocate funding for service models that increase the availability of clinicians to members and the public, including embedding clinicians in detachments. These models could include regularized partnerships with service providers such as the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) to provide embedded clinician services.
  4. The use of digital services including telemedicine or video conferencing for psychological support, should be considered as a means of supplementing in-person services and optimizing access to services and resources.
  5. The role of the EFAP in the suite of available services should be reviewed in light of the recommendations in this Report, the OPP Suicide Review and the Mental Health Review to ensure that members receive services commensurate to their needs.

Recommendation 8: Targeted mental health programs should be supported and enhanced

  1. Peer support programs, including Critical Incident Stress Response CISR, should be evaluated and enhanced so that there is a greater number of trained peer leaders available to members. Peer support should continue to target debriefs and/or immediate support at the time of critical incidents and should be expanded to provide support beyond critical incidents, including following the death of a colleague and when a member is being suspended or investigated.
  2. Recognizing that mental health stressors are not limited to certain types of police work or certain kinds of experiences, the principles of the Safeguard program should be taken into account in refocusing and expanding wellness efforts across the OPP.
  3. The HWB in partnership with other first responder organizations should explore a pilot project to offer support services for members and families at an ‘off-site’ location.
  4. The HWB should explore partnerships with First Nations policing services in Ontario with respect to mental health and member resilience. Partnerships at the program development, design and delivery stages will increase the availability of culturally appropriate mental health and wellness supports for Indigenous members of OPP and First Nations policing services working with the OPP.

Recommendation 9: Accommodation and RTW must be de-stigmatized and meaningful

  1. The HWB should immediately undertake a review and revision of the RTW protocol in accordance with best practices and with a clear aim to support the wellness of members. This work should be guided by the discussions of the Provincial Wellness Advisory Table.
  2. Clear communications should be prepared and disseminated to all members with respect to the contents of the RTW protocol. Managers must be provided with training on the RTW process to help members return to the workplace without fear of stigma, ostracization or reprisal. Managers must clearly communicate the value of the work of accommodated members.
  3. Managers and staff must be supported to find meaningful and valued work for members as part of a RTW protocol to support mental wellness and to reduce stigma. This must include developing options in collaboration with the impacted member and manager.
  4. Regular outreach to members off work should be a mandatory part of the case management approach. Frontline and other operational managers should be provided with training and support to ensure their engagement with members is appropriate, meaningful and supportive.

Recommendation 10: An organization-wide approach to member death by suicide should be developed and communicated

  1. Service-wide, regional and local responses to member death by suicide should include clear internal and external communication that supports the reduction of stigma and reinforces the support for members and families.
  2. An immediate and long-term support plan for families and colleagues should be easily activated and coordinated to include active, on-site engagement by clinicians and trained peer support as an immediate response, as well as regular dialogue with families and colleagues as a long-term commitment.
  3. A collaborative dialogue, including members and families, on how best to recognize and pay tribute to members who die by suicide is an immediate priority.

Recommendation 11: Communication and discussion with respect to positive workplace culture and conflict resolution must occur across the organization

  1. Ongoing, regular and mandatory training should be provided to all members with respect to the elements of a positive workplace culture, conflict resolution, responding to bullying and harassment in the workplace, and the impact of bullying and harassment on mental health. This training should be combined with other wellness training and as a part of regular ‘resilience recertification’ through the HWB.
  2. Ongoing and regular communications from the Commissioner and others in leadership positions supporting a positive work environment and modelling conflict resolution, should form part of the Commissioner’s wellness communication strategy.

Recommendation 12: The OPP should include a Resolutions Unit focused on workplace conflict resolution

  1. A Resolutions Unit should be established with a mandate separate and distinct from the Professional Standards Bureau and outside the Human Resources/Career Development Bureau.
  2. The mandate and staffing of the office should include knowledgeable representatives for providing support, confidentiality, and accurate and impartial navigation of workplace issues and resolution options. The Resolutions Unit should have representation in each of the regions.
  3. Responsibility for the oversight and administration of the Respectful Workplace Policy should be transferred from the Ontario Public Service (OPS) to the OPP and housed in the Resolutions Unit. While continuing to align with OPS principles, the OPP Respectful Workplace Policy should be remodelled to correspond more directly with the recommendations of this Report, the OPP Suicide Review and the Mental Health Review, the experiences and realities of OPP members, and to enhance the credibility of the process and the positive impact of the outcomes.

Recommendation 13: A new complaints resolution process is required to support workplace culture improvements

  1. A Dispute Resolution Advisor, appointed by the Commissioner and the Deputy Solicitor General, Community Safety, for a five-year duration, should be empowered to:
    • receive and make recommendations to the Commissioner about member complaints that have not been resolved through any other formal mechanism, including current complaints
    • give advice to the Commissioner with respect to material changes to existing programs/policies or new programs/policies that may impact the wellbeing of members
    • collect and analyze data related to complaints with a view to identifying long-term solutions for complaint resolution
    • assist in the development of a framework for effective complaint resolution and provide advice to the leadership team as they address the Respectful Workplace Policy
    • provide advice or recommendations to the Commissioner on other matters that may impact the wellbeing of members as requested
  2. The individual shall not be an employee of the government and shall be independent, ethical and credible. Support for the individual should be provided to ensure timely and comprehensive responses.
  3. At the end of the five-year term, the Commissioner and the Deputy Solicitor General, Community Safety, will assess the recommendations and progress made by the Dispute Resolution Advisor in enhancing the complaints resolution process and positively impacting workplace culture. They may opt to renew the position or to adopt an alternate model to respond to the needs of the organization.

Recommendation 14: The leadership priority on wellness must extend to budgetary and operational staffing decisions

  1. The Government, including the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Treasury Board Secretariat should apply a wellness lens to all budget decisions related to operational staffing in the OPP.
  2. The OPP should apply a wellness lens to all operational decisions related to staffing across the Province.
  3. The wellness lens should include the recognition that adequate staffing has long-term fiscal and functional benefits through the maintenance of a healthy and resilient workforce.

Recommendation 15: Staffing and scheduling require a wellness lens and strategic approaches to ensuring the membership reflects and supports the population of Ontario

  1. The approach to scheduling should apply a wellness lens to recommendations, including:
    • reducing reliance on overtime
    • ensuring adequate time in shifts for debriefs (formal and informal) at the end of busy shifts
    • reducing the isolation of members while on shifts
    • introducing the potential for time off the day after a critical incident
    • introducing added shift flexibility to account for work and personal responsibilities, including court appearances
  2. In addition to the recommendations made in this Report, the OPP Suicide Review and the Mental Health Review with respect to increasing the wellness and resilience of members, the OPP should continue to work collaboratively with members and bargaining agents to find ways to increase the number of members available for operational positions, with attention to the most critical shortages.
  3. An urgent strategic approach to staffing shortages is required to support detachments in the North. This support should be comprised of:
    • targeted spending increases on staffing
    • an enhanced hiring campaign for potential new recruits in Northern and Indigenous communities
    • a strategic approach to deployment that supports mental wellness for members deployed in the North, including increasing access to support services and proactive member health check-ins
  4. In conjunction with the results of the current review of the Inclusion Councils, priority efforts should be directed at ensuring authentic inclusion in the OPP, including communications from all levels of leadership that diversity and inclusion lead to a healthy workplace, and creating empowered communities of members inside the service at a central, regional and local level.
  5. A more aggressive mandate to increase the inclusivity of the OPP is required to recruit members that more accurately reflect the diverse makeup of Ontario. Direct outreach to diverse and/or under-represented communities should be part of a larger recruitment campaign.