The Special Investigations Unit

Our 2010 G20 summit page covers one major episode of Toronto police-conduct scrutiny. The agency with the actual legal power to investigate police in incidents involving death or serious injury is a distinct, dedicated body: Ontario's Special Investigations Unit.

A first-of-its-kind agency

The Special Investigations Unit was created in 1990 under Ontario's Police Services Act, making Ontario the first Canadian province — and one of the first jurisdictions anywhere — to establish a standing civilian agency with the power to independently investigate police conduct and lay criminal charges against officers. Its mandate covers any incident involving police that results in death, serious injury, sexual assault allegations, or firearm discharge at a person, across every municipal, regional and provincial police service in Ontario, including the Toronto Police Service.

Decades of reform

The SIU has faced recurring public scrutiny over its independence and effectiveness, including Ontario Ombudsman investigations questioning how much genuine cooperation SIU investigators received from police under the original "duty to cooperate" framework. In response, Ontario passed dedicated SIU-specific legislation that came into force December 1, 2020, replacing that framework with a stronger legal "duty to comply," more than 30 years after the unit was first established.

Sources

• Ombudsman Ontario — Oversight Unseen
• Special Investigations Unit — The Unit