Welcome to the Special Investigations Unit’s website. 

After more than 30 years of operating under the Police Services Act, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) now has its own governing legislation - the Special Investigations Unit Act (SIUA), which came into force on December 1, 2020. The new legislation will serve to strengthen civilian oversight of law enforcement and will result in greater transparency. 

The SIU has always been mandated to investigate occurrences across Ontario involving all municipal, regional and provincial police officers. Under the SIUA, the Unit will also have jurisdiction over special constables employed by the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service. Anyone the SIU is mandated to investigate is defined as an “official” under the SIUA. 

The SIU is the first of its kind in Canada, and Ontario remains one of the few places worldwide that has an independent civilian agency with the power to both investigate and charge officials with a criminal offence. Borne in 1990 of a crisis of public confidence in a system in which the police policed themselves, the SIU remains today at the forefront of civilian oversight of the police in Canada and around the world amid an international movement toward greater civilian accountability of police. This is truly an accomplishment to take pride in. As Director of the SIU, I look forward to continuing to build on the Unit’s successes and to promoting the important value of police accountability through highly professional and independent investigations.

This website has been designed to be interactive and to allow visitors easy and prompt access to information about the Unit’s mandate, investigative processes, news releases, and programs and services.  I hope you will find it to be an informative and valuable resource. To provide your comments and feedback, please visit our Contact Us page. 

Sincerely,

Joseph Martino

Director