Edmonton has completed all five recommendations from a 2023 audit of its 311 public inquiry service, but questions remain about how well it will manage heavy demand during extreme winter weather. The city is expanding digital tools and considering ways to reduce repeated calls about the same issue, after heavy snowfall overwhelmed the service last winter.

The executive committee received an update on 311 on Friday. Maria Schrijvers, the city’s 311 and Customer Access director, said the service is adding digital infrastructure, including artificial intelligence backends to help direct callers to relevant services. The costs are covered by the existing budget, so the upgrades will not create additional costs for ratepayers.

The 311 app now lets users attach multiple photographs to an inquiry, which can help the city identify a resolution. The city is also working on notifications to confirm an inquiry has been received and provide updates as it progresses. Administration said it is developing feedback to tell users when an issue has been resolved, following a suggestion from Erick Estrada, a speaker representing the Alberta Avenue Business Association, who called the updated app his favourite.

Another planned change would make it easier to cancel a ticket when the issue has already been resolved. At present, users effectively have to phone in to request cancellation of the earlier ticket.

Ward Karhiio Coun. Keren Tang asked how administration would keep the service robust during the coming winter, recalling that 311 froze after being overwhelmed by calls about heavy snowfall. Caitlin Zerebeski, the city’s Infrastructure Operations director, said road operations is looking at ways to address multiple calls about the same subject.

“I think this year has been pretty unique in some of those ways - we don’t always shut down 311 when we get overwhelmed, but I think some of it is the repetition of the inquiries,” Tang said. “We need to give the crews time to resolve that. I think given some of those experiences this year we’re going to be set up for a better process.”

City staff received more than 900,000 calls through 311 in 2025. The city resolved 98.7 per cent on the first call, while 81 per cent were resolved within timeline targets. On average, calls were answered within 93 seconds of the first ring, and 72 per cent were answered within 120 seconds.

The service operates by phone from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. six days a week, closing on Sundays. The city’s app is available around the clock. Of the inquiries, 57 per cent were handled through 311 and 43 per cent were referred to another department. City operations and community services accounted for 18 per cent of referrals.

In feedback reported to the committee, 83 per cent of users said they were satisfied with their experience. The remaining 17 per cent said they needed to follow up for a status update or that their issue had not been resolved during the first call.

Interpretive services are available in 180 languages, and relay services support users who are hearing or speech impaired. The city received more than 40 requests for language services in 2025, with Mandarin the most requested language.

The service update came as Edmonton faces another winter after the previous season’s snowfall calls overwhelmed 311. City operations is examining repeated reports, while the planned app updates are intended to give users confirmation and progress information about their inquiries.

Based on reporting by Edmonton Journal.