Request For By-law Enforcement Services
Service Request for By-law Enforcement
If you would like to report a possible by-law violation, please contact us by the following ways:
- Complete the Online Complaint Form
- Email at bylaw@collingwood.ca
- Telephone: 705-445-1030 ext. 3256
- In Person at Town Hall. Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Please Note: In order to investigate your concerns/complaints properly, please provide us with the following information:
- Your first and last name,
- Your address,
- Your phone number, and
- The Collingwood address where the issue is or has taking place. (If it is for a vacant lot, please give a detailed description of its location).
Unless permitted by the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56, or required as a result of disclosure, your personal information will be kept confidential. Should the matter proceed to court, it may be necessary for you to attend court as a witness to the violation.
Anonymous complaints or complaints with only partial information will not be investigated.
- By-law Staff will acknowledge the receipt of a valid By-law complaint to the complainant no later than 1 business day (“next business day”).
- The complainant will be provided with an overview of the next steps and when to expect a response on the status of their concerns.
- The complainant will be provided a case number to reference in future correspondences with By-law Staff.
- By-law Staff will communicate to the complainant that some by-law matters will take a lengthy time before being resolved and may be deemed a civil matter in some instances.
- Repeat complaints on similar issues will be assessed on their merits, even if numerous, to determine the appropriate response and action, if any.
- Previous attempts by By-law Enforcement to address a repeat issue and steps taken will be reviewed.
- Where compliance with a potential by-law infraction has been confirmed, further action on a repeat or frivolous complaint may not be acted upon unless new information is provided by the complainant.
- Restricted contact to a repeat complainant on a same issue or a frivolous complaint will be considered by the Manager, Building & By-law Services or the Director, Planning & Building Department on after carefully assessing the circumstances.
- The Manager will clearly communicate to the complainant, in writing, the nature of the restrictions, the reasons for them and circumstance when they may be reconsidered.
- The restricted communication on a By-law enforcement matter does not prevent or limit other necessary contact with Town Staff that is unrelated to the person’s complaints.
- Where multiple complaints are received from different people about the same issue, Staff may assess and determine a response for the complaints as a whole rather than individually. In doing so, however, Staff must consider any nuances of the different complaints and respond to each issue received from each complainant.