Report Suspected Fraud or Waste>
How to Submit a Report
Ethical concerns related to suspected fraud or waste can be reported by:
- Calling the City’s Fraud and Waste Hotline at 1-866-959-9309; or
- Filling out and submitting a report through the IntegrityCounts portal at (https://integritycounts.ca/org/cityofottawa)
Fraud includes any misuse or attempt to misuse a City asset for personal gain, or unauthorized purposes which are unrelated to City business.
Examples of activities that should be reported include:
- Forgery or alteration of cheques, drafts, promissory notes or securities.
- Any misappropriation, embezzlement or theft of funds, securities, supplies or any other asset.
- Any irregularity in the handling or reporting of money transactions.
- Misappropriation of furniture, fixtures, and equipment.
- Seeking or accepting anything of material value from vendors, consultants or contractors doing business with the City in violation of the City’s Code of Conduct.
- Any computer-related activity involving the alteration, destruction, forgery, or manipulation of data for fraudulent purposes or misappropriation of City-owned software or hardware.
- Any improper claim for reimbursement of expenses.
Whereas Waste means the inefficient use of City resources and refers to any operation, process or activity where City resources may be used without due regard for value for money and/or where opportunities may exist to save money.
The City has separate channels where service requests, complaints and feedback may be submitted. Should you want to provide feedback regarding a City service, policy, program or staff member, you can submit a complaint to the department or branch responsible for that service.
You can also make a formal report or request to the City to obtain specific information or to request a service.
When submitting a Fraud and Waste report, please include as much information as possible in your report. The more details you provide relating to:
- when (date and time);
- what (incident);
- where (location);
- who (individuals involved or have witnessed the event, or are aware of the incident); and
- how (tools, equipment, policy breach, etc.), the easier it will be for us to investigate.
While users can choose to remain anonymous, the Fraud and Waste Hotline has the functionality to facilitate anonymous and confidential two-way communication that allows reporters to access their report after submitting the initial report. This feature allows the reporter to submit additional information, track the progress of the case, respond to any follow-up questions, as well as receive the outcome of their report. We encourage reporters to check the status of their report regularly as the Office may reach out to request additional information.