Exhibit B - Text Comments

All verbatim written comments submitted for the survey are included below. Feedback that does not follow the Guidelines for Participation has been removed from the public engagement summary.


Question 4: What type of services have you accessed on MyKingston? Check all that apply.

  • Other
    • Comments on public projects
    • Report lost wallet
    • Parking tickets
    • Paid a parking ticket, arranged to have taxes automatically taken from my bank account
    • Reporting parking violations, sidewalk obstructions
    • Garbage bag tags


Question 7: If you experienced issues or challenges with MyKingston, can you tell us more about what happened? If you didn't have any issues, please skip this question.

  • In your list of services the links to "Details" and to access the service do not seem to work. I had to use the search function to get to the service I wanted.
  • The website has too many branches and information can sometimes get buried.
  • MyKingston is fine. I use it primarily for Contact Us. The problem is not with MyKingston or with Contact Us - the problem is getting a response and action on issues that have been identified.
  • When trying to determine when yard waste will be picked up in my area, the map provided to determine my area and therefore the pickup week is absolutely useless. It is so extremely poorly marked that I've had to resort to calling the call centre to get this simple information. The Rep there agreed that the map is of no use to anyone.
  • Registering for multiple times at which I want to swim (lane swim at the Vicky Keith pool) is cumbersome and time consuming. Each time, the process to book a session starts from scratch which is unnecessary. Also, cancelling a session is impossible unless you all in and go through the automated voice system to eventually talk to a human being who can cancel the session. This is ridiculous and leads to swimmers simply not cancelling a session, which takes up a valuable space for someone else wanting to swim.
  • I had to create a new account to answer this survey, because it didn’t recognized my pwd in the login window. I opened a new window and went directly to mykingston and was able to log into my old account… it makes no sense
  • The "start" and "details" buttons in each category do not work, so I am not able to do anything and it is so frusterating.
  • I log in but cannot access anything as it wants me to log in. So log out and try again. Sometimes just give up as it will not recognize that I’m logged in even though it clearly states you are logged in.
  • I always have at least one login error when trying to access transit fare information. When I resubmit, it will then work well.
  • I recently tried to find out where the municipal electoral boundaries are, to determine which councillors serve which areas. I found it difficult to determine the exact borders of the various districts.
  • clunky design, could be laid out better
  • When applying for my MFAP, the page would not load when I clicked apply. I waited a couple days and finally it worked.
  • When I came to Kingston I set up an account and emails and various payments etc etc. Since I have changed my primary email. It seems all buy impossible to merge and switch. Some I get to one some to another and sometimes neither work or both do repeatedly over and over again. This is a real problem, one that probably uses a lot of resources at the city end as well.
  • Getting to this survey was unnecessarily difficult. Why couldn’t I sign in with my my Kingston account? And why did the email verification link not take me directly to the survey??
  • What would be nice is if I could change my user name from the email address I started with to one I wish to use now
  • I left most of the questions in 6 blank as I don't recall having any real issues, other than just finding it in the first place.
  • Sometimes issues more than one department or one area. The responses that I get back suggest that Kingston is set up to be siloed and not deal with complex issues.
  • No issues with my Kingston, just having trouble differentiating the different housing assistance program and form.
  • When I signed up for automatic top-ups and automatic renewals for my transit cards, I was unable to easily tell whether I had signed up for these services. I was left feeling uncertain about whether my cards would automatically be topped up when they fell below a certain amount, or were up for monthly renewal.
  • Just before this survey, I was not able to log into my account and had to use a different browser to sign in.
  • Annoying to sign into transit site and then to my Kingston to reload transit card. One sign in would be ideal.
  • Trying do this survey on my phone and don't get the full range of numbers in drop down for question above. Flip phone to side to access. Using chrome on an iphone.
  • Had trouble logging in. I don't understand why I need to sign in to use MyKingston or any other city information service.
  • There is so much on your dashboard under so many categories, it is often difficult to find the information I am seeking.
  • When registering for recreational programs, the cancellation policies are nowhere explained and there are definitely more information that could be added.
  • No issues, but Question 6 is really awkward to answer in this format. Can you use one of those sorting answers next time, rather than 9 drop down menus?
  • please move the "submit" button further away from the "select file" button on phones and tablets. I've often accidentally sent in half-finished submissions because I tried to upload a file but hit 'submit' because they're so close together. Also have had trouble figuring out who to contact about a broken drinking water fountain in a park, broken park fences.
  • tickets go unanswered, failing to reach the department consistently then sit, issues go for months without resolution or city staff feeds back incorrect or inaccurate information


Question 8: How do you find a specific service when using MyKingston?

  • Other
    • See my comment re Question 7 above. (In your list of services the links to "Details" and to access the service do not seem to work. I had to use the search function to get to the service I wanted.)
    • I usually Google what i'm looking for. Whether I'm directed to MyKIngston or older pages is always a surprise.
    • do not remember
    • I have to call the call centre to speak to a live person.
    • I do not use this service
    • I don’t remember how i used it to report my wallet as lost
    • I try to find the proper name for the department I think should handle the question
    • Google to get to the right page first before logging in
    • Sign into transit site first
    • I google my question.


Question 11: How do you usually find information about City programs and services? Check all that apply.

  • Other
    • Google
    • Google. (If you can remove out-of-date pages from the web, it would be very, very, very helpful.)
    • I receive emails that direct me here.
    • Regular emails from Kingston dot ca.
    • Google
    • Kingstonist
    • subscribe to emails - traffic, heritage, events etc
    • Reddit
    • I also run a numbernof social media sites in town, one for the disabled. On said sites and pages much information is exchanged.
    • I google it
    • I have to laugh at the answers. I COntacted the city, repeatedly, for over a year, on sidewalk plowing,no answer. Contact my (now former) councilor, get aquick"Iwill looki nto it", and nothing further.Contact the mayor, get a reply from his assistant...that is biarrely wrong. I have given up on contacting the city, its a waste of ttme
    • do not spend a lot of time looking up city programs mainly because when I try to find a bye law for instance, I can not follow what it really says or means. It is written in non street language. In other words, legalese.
    • Google, reddit
    • Using Google search engine
    • Searchin on google
    • I google it. Easier than using the city website, especially the new one.
    • Internet search

Question 12: We are exploring how to send notifications from MyKingston to you to let you know about the status of programs and services. Which of the following ways would you want to receive notifications?
  • Other
    • RSS Feed
    • I'd check on the program/service web page. (eg I check the Kingston Transit page before I take a trip by bus.)
    • Apps on mobile devises are a royal pain, (REDACTED). Stop using them especially to make payment for parking. Email would be the most user friendly process for advising any one of anything.
    • Social media
    • A news tab within the portal, so I could easily see a changelog/evolution of the programs/services
    • I would want the ability to choose all of those options depending on what program or service i want. i don't want one choice applied to all of them.


Question 14: Is there anything else that you would like to share with us about MyKingston?

  • It's useful, but I still miss the old days when you could call City Hall and get a live operator, who would quickly redirect you to the appropriate contact person. Humans are far more flexible (and friendly!) than web sites.
  • So far I've had no difficulty accessing info on the website. BUT this whole idea disturbs me. Will there be actual human beings reviewing these requests/questions/inquiries? Or will you go the way of letting an algorithm or (please NO), letting Ai handle this? Will there be people losing their jobs because of this? That's usually the case when something as obvious as "don't call us, we'll call you because we no longer have humans doing anything here"??
  • MyKingston appears to make it easier to find topics than the upgraded City of Kingston website
  • None
  • I think that the idea of MyKingston is great. I really love that I can see my councillor information, when waste collection is or view my service requests on the home page. I do however think that there is a lot of wasted space in the portal pages and it just makes things feel kind of clunky for navigating and having to scroll through so much. Also it would be really great to have the system ask "did you mean xyz" if a query is entered in the search and no results come up. Offering sugestions to help find what I am looking for when I don't know what it is called would be so very helpful.
  • The services provided by the City of Kingston are very poor in terms of quality of service, response by city workers to issues related to poor service and the complication of how those services are accessed or promoted only adds to the reputation of the City as an organization that self promotes and never follows through. The City must become user centred rather than bureaucracy centred. I was warned when we moved here 20 years ago, and now I warn people, that the City provides very little in the way of decent services when compared to other cities in the province and in Canada ... that you need a car to recycle, garbage collection is limited and does not promote composting, etc. So MyKingston is just another layer of bureaucracy that does not improve services but makes those working for rate payers look or feel like they are doing something. Until services improve, you are just putting lipstick on a pig!
  • It is a good start, but the interface is not user friendly.
  • I'd like to understand better the differences between what is available on MyKingston and what is available on cityofkingston.ca and what are the benefits to being signed up for MyKingston.
  • Access to councillors is a thought
  • I believe implementing a good solid app would be of greatest importance. I also believe installing voice recognition that works. As the currents system has never worked since I have been in Kingston. It most certainly does not meet AODA compliancy, and I have brought this up before and spoken with the accountable parties about it. I was told it would be some time before it would be addressed. No acceptably in my books as get complaints to the Kingston Disability Network weekly about it. It is also not acceptable that we as tax payers have paid for something that does not work.
  • Minor. Test visibility on mobile. Some apps/sites are really good and adjust themselves but this city site doesn’t. It should.
  • Should’ve just sent me a link to the email attached to my my Kingston account to do this survey. Way easier and more convenient
  • Great job , keep up the good work and ease of use
  • I do not recall if in using my Kingston a user must sign in but it would be great if not having to sign in was the order of the day.
  • I use the site so little I'm afraid it was difficult to respond in a way that would be useful for you.
  • Keep up the good work.
  • Make it easy and intuitive to navigate
  • I think that Get Involved Kingston is set up alright for an adult who takes the time to go through it. It completely excludes children and teens. I wonder how older adults feel about it. When asking a question, the user is filtered to a specific staff person. They will respond. Then the issue is then marked "closed". There is no dialogue. There are no changes. It makes it seem pointless. On a higher level, interactions with the city are overshadowed by this general theme of: it is pointless because the city never listens. For instance, the city doesn't listen to requests for safety by hospital administrators regarding crosswalks and speed of vehicles in front of the hospital. It doesn't listen to people who live in the area or teachers who question rights of children to walk or ride to school. It doesn't listen to organizations who ask about historical issues. My point is that the city's general lack of response to issues makes them not wank to even bother using MyKingston.
  • No it's perfect
  • I appreciate being able to add funds reto my transit pass.m
  • The overall UX of the site is not very good. It reads like a site designed and implemented solely by software developers with no UI/UX professionals providing key input. Hire a UX professional or consult with one before putting such important user facing apps live.
  • Definitely steps in the right direction. Feels modern. One login for all city websites would be ideal. I.e. sign into transit to reload card, redirected to my Kingston to login again
  • The city's approach seems to be to treat residents as customers. Residents are the taxpayers who pay staff salaries and the people who vote in city council. City information services could be more mindful of this element of a democracy.
  • The arranging the items in order for the survey was difficult since there must be some level of difficulty for every item. However, some of the items can be at equal level.
  • Would be nice to know what information is required for reporting parking violations etc, to make sure I'm submitting enough information for the staff involved to be able to act. Would be nice to have a sort of organizational tree to figure out who to ask for what. Or an option to send your inquiry in and have someone from the City route it appropriately. Being able to filter search results on the City's website would be a huge boon.
  • Would b good that the info on mykingston was sent out via email. Never heard about
  • I think it has alot of potential to become a hub for lots of other important services and information.
  • I wish there was an "easy button" that would let people easily pass on a well-done to acknowledge great service/work done by city employees. Some people really deserve to be recognized for the good work they are doing.
  • While I am an avid user of self serve online options, I do not like that many services REQUIRE you to have a MyKingston account in order to access/use certain services.
  • needs to include all city related departments and entities under one roof - utilities kingston should be fully incorporated but isn't for instance
If you require information in an alternate format of this engagement report, please call 613-546-0000. We will work with you to understand your specific information and accessibility needs and to provide for them within a reasonable timeframe.