As of April 1, 2020, the Anti-Racism Act, 2017 (ARA) and the regulation made under it authorize the OIPRD to collect personal information such as Indigenous identity, race, religion, and ethnic origin from members of the public who make a complaint to the agency through complaint forms.
This authorization is consistent with the Ontario Government’s work to eliminate systemic racism in government policies, decisions, and programs, and advance racial equity in Ontario. The collection of race-based data will allow our agency to identify racial inequities, inform the development of policies and procedures, and ensure our investigations and decisions are bias-free.
In accordance with the Anti-Racism Data Standards for the Identification and Monitoring of Systemic Racism (ARDS), any race-based data that is collected will be de-identified and stored in our system database. The data will be stripped of all personal identifiable information and separated from the complaint. Any staff members making decisions in the complaint process will not have access to the related race-based data. Police services and respondent officers will not have access to this information.
The OIPRD will publicly report on findings related to the data. Statistics and findings from this data collection may also be shared with the Government of Ontario, as the ARDS requires Ministries to publish annual reports that include information on the progress of the strategy’s initiatives, targets, and indicators.
The OIPRD has been consulting with stakeholders to understand their priorities and concerns in the collection, management, and analysis of the data. Towards that end, the OIPRD will be conducting outreach activities and stakeholder engagement in the coming months.
If you have further questions, you may contact us at oiprd@ontario.ca or by phone at 416-314-4517.
