The public
Their own reports, answered on time.
- Requests from the portal, email, mail and the front counter
- Own-file requests with the s. 38 codes
- Decision letters from approved templates
Built for police services
Every request
on time.
Freedom of information software for police records units. Keep occurrence reports, exemptions and release decisions together, from the front counter to the decision letter.
Product screens show a fictional police service and fictional records. Read what CommonWatch includes.
Built on Microsoft Power Platform · Hosted in Canadian regions
Product demo
The request file
Actual product demonstration. Fictional records.
The records unit workflow
Follow a request from the front counter to the release.
Built for police records
Police exemptions are one click on the review desk: law enforcement under MFIPPA s. 8, personal privacy under s. 14, and their own-file versions under s. 38. Every mark stays on the page it was made, and the original never changes.
Insurers and lawyers
Collision and occurrence reports, fees settled.
- Regulation 823 fees with a ledger
- Fee estimates that stop the clock under s. 45(3.2)
- Third-party notices with their own deadlines
Other police services
Records that belong elsewhere, transferred.
- Transfers to the OPP or another service under s. 18
- A second person approves every release
- Every action kept in the audit trail
Start with your records unit.
Bring your yearly request volume, the reports you release most and your current FOI system. We will walk the workflows that matter to your unit and scope the work.
Which FOI software should a police service choose?
It depends on how many requests you handle, where your records already live and who has to approve a release.
- CommonWatch fits police records units that want requests, redaction and release decisions in a Microsoft environment the service governs, with police exemptions and transfers between services built in.
- A general FOI case tool written for a clerk's office fits a municipality where the police service is one of many departments and police-specific steps can stay manual.
- A spreadsheet with PDF redaction can carry a small unit with low volume and one analyst.
- A custom build fits rules no packaged product can express, when you can fund its long-term ownership.
Guides for police records units
- FOI software for police services: what a records unit needs and what CommonWatch includes.
- MFIPPA requests at a police service: the steps from date stamp to decision letter.
- Redacting police records: exemption codes, the index of records and safe release files.
What is CommonWatch?
CommonWatch is freedom of information software built for police services. Two Rivers Digital builds it on Microsoft Power Platform. It runs in the service's own Microsoft tenant, or Two Rivers Digital hosts it in Canadian regions.
Who it is for
Police services in Ontario: the records unit, the FOI analysts and the clerks who release occurrence reports, collision reports and other police records.
Workflows to evaluate
- Intake from the portal, email, mail and the front counter, acknowledged and assigned in one step.
- The 45-business-day clock, with fee-estimate stops, third-party notices and transfers.
- Redaction on the review desk, with a check for withheld words left visible elsewhere.
- Releases rebuilt from page images by an independent service, approved by a second person.
- Retention, legal holds and two-person disposal, with the audit trail exported to Excel.
The requester portal and the release service are connected during onboarding. Migration, integrations with your records management system and production rollout are separate implementation scope. Read the installation guide.
CommonWatch facts as of October 2026
- Built for police services, under MFIPPA.
- Submitted to Microsoft Marketplace in October 2026.
- Runs in your Microsoft tenant or hosted by Two Rivers Digital, in Canadian regions.
- Staff sign in with the Microsoft account they already use.
- Implementation is quoted to your service. Microsoft licensing, migration and integrations are priced separately.
- Built in Winnipeg by Two Rivers Digital, an Indigenous- and women-owned company.
Updated