Whistleblowing: Reporting serious wrongdoing at the City of Vancouver

This means that public money, resources, or assets:

• Are being wasted 
• Are not being used for their intended purpose 
• Are being used in a way that is irregular, unauthorized, or not required, contrary to a City policy or direction of Council 

Fraud is deception intended to result in financial or personal gain, including but not limited to: 

• Bribes
• Misappropriating funds 
• Breach of trust 
• Theft 
• Misdirecting or misuse of funds or assets 
• Manipulating City accounting or audit records or destroying accounting or audit-related records except as permitted by City policy 

This occurs when an employee exercises their official power, duty, or function to further an undisclosed personal interest that could result in a personal financial benefit.  

A serious financial action or failure to act that could constitute a crime.

‘Serious’ means that the action:

• Is deliberate 
• Is a significant departure from accepted conduct 
• Has profound consequences on the City of Vancouver’s financial assets, resources, reputation, or on the public interest

This means encouraging another employee to commit serious wrongdoing, regardless of whether they follow through.

This involves intentionally hiding evidence of serious wrongdoing. 

Within 10 business days, the OAG will confirm receipt of your report and provide any results from an initial assessment of your allegation.

The OAG will determine whether the conduct you alleged could constitute serious wrongdoing under the Whistleblower Policy. 

This stage will determine the appropriate next steps, which may include: 

• Beginning an investigation under the Whistleblower Policy 
• Referring your report to a City department for investigation or action 
• Closing your file without further action because: 
  • The issues raised are outside the scope of the Whistleblower Policy. 
  • The preliminary assessment determined that no action is warranted.
  • There is not enough information to investigate and further information is not available (for example, if a report is anonymous).

If the OAG determines that your report requires investigation, it will either initiate the investigation or delegate it to the Chief Human Resources Officer.

Further updates on progress will depend on the specific circumstances of the investigation. You can contact the OAG for an update at any time at [email protected]. 

The OAG will advise you of the outcome of the investigation and any recommendations to the City arising from it.

If appropriate, the OAG will provide a separate report to Council or will include the investigation outcome in its Annual Whistleblower Report to Council.

Information icon Employee discipline is the responsibility of City of Vancouver management and falls outside the scope of the OAG’s mandate.