Canadian municipalities fix potholes they know about, in roughly the order they learn about them and how bad they are. The single biggest reason a pothole stays unfixed for months is that nobody reported it — or everyone assumed someone else did. Here is how to report one so it actually gets patched.
Report it on RoadRot (30 seconds)
- Pin the location. Open the RoadRot map, zoom to the spot, and tap where the pothole is. GPS from your phone at the roadside is the most accurate.
- Rate the severity. Minor (annoying), moderate (swerve-worthy), or severe (tire-damaging). Severe reports are highlighted to everyone browsing the map.
- Add a photo if you can. Reports with photos are confirmed by other drivers far more often, and photos are what city crews use to triage.
- Submit — no account needed. You get a permanent link you can share. When others confirm your report, its priority climbs.
Report it to your city too
Most Canadian cities take pothole reports through 311 — by phone, web form, or app. An official 311 report creates a service request number inside the city’s own works system. RoadRot can generate and send a 311 email for many cities directly from a pothole’s page, so the public report and the official report reference each other.
Why both matter: the 311 ticket obliges the city to respond; the RoadRot report makes the problem — and the city’s response time — publicly visible. Cities patch faster when the scoreboard is public.
Highways are different
If the pothole is on a numbered provincial highway (a 400-series in Ontario, a provincial trunk highway in Manitoba, the Trans-Canada anywhere), the province or its maintenance contractor is responsible, not the municipality. Every province runs its own highway-condition reporting line. See who is responsible for fixing potholes for the breakdown.
What happens after you report
On RoadRot, your report appears on the public map immediately. Other drivers can confirm it (raising its priority), and in cities using the RoadRot municipal portal, a ticket is created that staff acknowledge, schedule, and close — you can watch that happen on the report’s tracking page. When the road is patched, fix-votes from the community mark it fixed.
Hit one before it was fixed?
If a pothole damaged your tire, rim, or suspension, you may be able to claim against the road authority — but several provinces have short notice deadlines (Ontario’s is 10 days). Find your province in the pothole damage claim guide.