Welcome Centre and Referral | City of Peterborough

How can we help you?

We can help connect you with supports including Ontario Works, child care, housing, food and other community services. When you contact Social Services for help, a staff member will screen you for all programs we offer. We might make other community referrals too. Once an application is granted, you are referred to a caseworker. Together you will create a plan that's right for you and find ways to move forward with your personal goals.

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Ontario Works assistance

Apply for Social Assistance and find helpful information about eligibility, benefits and ways to apply.

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Child Care Fee Subsidy

Learn how to apply for a Child Care Fee Subsidy and find helpful eligibility information.

Housing Access Peterborough

Apply for Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) housing, update your application and find wait list information.

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Access Emergency Shelter

Get help with emergency shelter and homelessness prevention through Centralized Intake.

Financial Support for Seniors

Find support for seniors including information about Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security.

Food Security and Support

Find food support programs including community meals, food bank schedules and help for seniors.

Customer service

Customer Service is important to us. We are continually working to improve our service. You can help us to do better by giving feedback.

There are different ways to do this:

our customer complaint procedure
contacting us directly
comment cards when you are at the office (in reception)
our anonymous customer service survey

We look forward to hearing from you.

Call recording

As part of our commitment to provide the best possible service to our service users and partners, we may monitor or record both inbound and outbound telephone calls for quality assurance purposes.

Customer complaint procedure

If you feel that a staff person has not provided good customer service or acted improperly, please follow these steps:

Talk about the situation with the worker. If you are not satisfied, talk about the situation with the supervisor.
If you are not able to work it out or if you are not satisfied with the outcome, please submit a complaint to the Director of Social Services within five working days.

Please read the Customer Services Standards Brochure that describes the complaint process.

To submit a complaint, please use the Online Social Services Complaint Form. Complaints will be dealt with in a confidential manner according to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The complaint handling process in no way limits or restricts any person’s rights under the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Customer service survey

Please help us by giving your feedback about the services you received in the Social Services office.

Customer service survey

Guest wireless internet

We offer WiFi in reception for service users and guests. The password is posted in the reception area.

Vision

Building a community where all individuals can live the life they value.

Mission statement

Social Services provides person-centred, equitable support for individuals and families within the City & County of Peterborough.

We value

Trust and integrity

We will deliver exceptional public service by doing the right things, with personal accountability, transparency, consistency, and respect.

We will work together and lead by example by taking on important community issues and instilling confidence in our governance.

Engagement and openness

We will proactively collaborate to engage the community on a regular basis, welcoming new ideas and perspectives, embracing creativity, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Compassion and teamwork

We value and care about the needs of our Community and Organization (residents, employees, and businesses). We will inspire authentic leadership with a sense of belonging at all levels, empowered to push forward the contributions that will transform our community.

We collaborate across departments to achieve our goals. We will work in partnership with our community. we are one community together, one team with a common purpose.