City’s 311 chatbot makes its debut

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This article was published 12/05/2025 (348 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The new 311 chatbot is online to help Winnipeggers use artificial intelligence to find quick answers about city services.

The city launched a chatbot pilot program on Monday, which residents can access by clicking on an icon at the bottom right-hand corner of nearly every webpage at winnipeg.ca.

The option will be available at all hours and in multiple languages during the pilot period, in addition to 311 phone and email requests.

“This pilot will help you navigate the website better… The volume of services that the city provides is so immense, that it often does make it difficult for people to navigate,” said Felicia Wiltshire, the city’s director of customer service and communications.

Those who click on the chatbot icon, which resembles a text box with sharp angles, can ask questions in more than a dozen languages, including English, Arabic, Danish, German, Greek, Spanish, French, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian and Swedish, as well as simplified and traditional versions of Chinese.

The chatbot will provide initial text answers in the same language as the question, although all of the city webpages it links to will be in English or French.

“Our city’s very diverse and there are many people who speak many languages… this will give more Winnipeggers the ability to access information on city services in their language of their choice,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

The mayor said he expects the technology to improve service levels.

“It’s part of building a more accessible and responsive, modern city government. It’s not to take the place of city staff but rather to enhance and assist city staff in their work,” said Gillingham.

Wiltshire said the pilot will last at least a few months, though there is no set end date. Feedback will help the city decide if the pilot project should become permanent.

The mayor noted the project is one of several artificial intelligence uses being tested by the city. Additional pilot projects are underway for an automated voice agent for Winnipeg Police Service non-emergency calls, an automated development plan evaluation tool for permits and road condition monitoring through cameras mounted on vehicles.

“AI is here to stay so I believe we should be making the most of the innovation that is available to the city,” said Gillingham. “It’s about finding ways to do a better job of delivering city services to the people of Winnipeg.”

Average wait times for 311 calls have fallen to 40 seconds so far this year, down from 11 minutes in 2022, so it’s not clear if the chatbot could further shorten that wait.

In 2022, some callers waited an hour or more to get answers but a budget and staffing boost has been credited with shortening the wait since 2023.

Wiltshire noted people are still asked to call or email 311 when their request involves private information and whenever the AI technology isn’t able to answer a question.

During the trial period, the city encourages Winnipeggers to report any glitches.

Those who click on the chatbot will see a warning that notes it “may occasionally give incorrect information.” On Monday, links were automatically included in the chatbot window to find bus stops and schedules, recycle and garbage collection dates and library hours.

Several questions asked by a reporter led to correct answers, though one seeking city ward boundaries provided a link to a missing webpage.

Coun. Matt Allard, council’s technology and innovation liaison, said the chatbot will quickly connect users to forms to report issues such as potholes and free up 311 staff for more complicated requests.

“In the cases where any of these forms is successfully completed by a person requesting service… then that saved the person time because they didn’t have to call someone and then wait on hold and then be referred to a form,” said Allard.

Winnipeggers should doublecheck important answers, he cautioned.

“Someitmes AI does things (very quickly) that are incredible (because they) would have taken a person hours and hours of work to do… On the other hand, I have seen it give the wrong answer,” said Allard.

The system should improve over time, as the program gathers feedback, he noted.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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