Fraud and waste tip line for community housing

The city’s largest social housing landlord, worried about potential fraud and wasteful spending, is copying a city hall snitch line.

Ottawa Community Housing is already predicting the majority of reports it collects will allege possible fraud committed by tenants.

The anonymous whistleblower phone line and online reporting tool is part of a new integrity policy to go into effect in early April.

Stéphane Giguère, CEO of the housing corporation, said the new integrity protocol is to make sure OCH continues to be a responsible service provider.

“We really believe we need to be accountable and transparent and accessible,” Giguère said.

The new policy aims to protect OCH resources, foster an environment where people can raise concerns without fear or reprisal and address claims fairly.

OCH struck an internal group last fall to start looking into a fraud-and-waste policy.

The agency wants to implement the hotline and online reporting form over the next two months.

The agency expects to spend $3,500 to set up the online reporting system, plus another $250$300 each month in service fees.

The City of Ottawa has had a fraud and waste hotline since 2005. The hotline was just for employee-related tips until it was opened to the public in 2009. In 2015, the city’s fraud and waste program collected 319 reports. jwilling@postmedia.com twitter.com/JonathanWilling