Toronto's 311 information line deals with more than a whopping million calls from residents every year, with each one seeking either information about City programs, or a resolution to some issue in the community that requires attention.

Some 400,000 of these non-emergency calls usually end in service requests, with staff from various departments dispatched to address all types of issues, whether they be regarding bylaw and property violations, snow removal and traffic safety, sewage leaks and watermain breaks, or even wild animal encounters.

But, what citizens call City staff about most often may surprise you.

While a large number of grievances are indeed about things like potholes — what one might imagine as the most common and predictable complaint — according to the newly-dropped numbers from 2023, there was one very Toronto thing that locals took even greater issue with.

The most prevalent topic out of 487,243 requests for service logged through 311 last year was City garbage bins, which everyone knows are hardly ever emptied in some locations and which City Councillors have admitted kind of suck.

If the company that was hired isn't honouring their end of the contract by not fixing or cleaning the bins, shouldn't that make the contract void? We shouldn't have to put up with this for 5 more years

— Dennise Grant (@grant1965) June 4, 2022

"There is concern about the state of our public waste bins lining our sidewalks, with reports of visible damage to bins that are in disrepair," one councillor wrote in a 2022 motion to examine the state of our public disposal receptacles.

"As a daily walker and jogger, I often travel through the Midtown area by foot and notice vandalized public waste bins on sidewalks that are either damaged or defaced, with the bin doors swinging open or the frames vandalized with graffiti."

The latest 311 data shows that around 20,000 requests to fix busted garbage cans across the city were logged last year, amounting to a staggering 54 or so per day.

And, it's been years that people have been bemoaning the Astral Out-of-Home-managed containers, which seem to be generally neglected as far as cleaning and operationality are concerned.

Toronto gets roasted for asking people to use garbage bins nobody empties https://t.co/R78EFpmvz1 #Toronto

— blogTO (@blogTO) August 17, 2023

Aside from the garbage issue, residents' second biggest grumble point last year was potholes, followed by appeals to attend to dead or injured wildlife, maintenance violations, and property standards.

On a positive note, getting the City to deal with problems or field questions did just get easier with a more streamlined process that deals with all queries centrally, rather than separating them by department.