The Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario will be closed on Monday, August 4. Our phone lines will also be closed.
Our services will resume on Tuesday, August 5 at 9 a.m.
Issues: Group home; Disability; Rights (Get help) A 16-year-old who has a developmental disability and lives in a group home contacted us to raise questions about his rights. We spoke to his caseworker, who told us the young man had been informed about his rights when he first arrived at the home …
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A 16-year-old who has a developmental disability and lives in a group home contacted us to raise questions about his rights.
/en/our-work/case-stories/right-ing-wall
A better way
Issues: Children’s aid society; Police involvement; Rights (Identity) A 13-year-old racialized youth complained to us after her children’s aid society (CAS) called the police to transport her to a new group home – which they did by handcuffing her and placing her in the back of a police vehicle. …
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A 13-year-old racialized youth complained to us after her children’s aid society (CAS) called the police to transport her to a new group home – which they did by handcuffing her and placing her in the back of a police vehicle.
/en/our-work/case-stories/better-way
To be or not to be… in French
A woman in Thunder Bay decided to go to a local ServiceOntario to update her home address on her driver’s licence, after first checking the website to confirm the service location offered services in French. When she arrived, however, she found that wasn’t the case, and contacted our Office to …
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A woman in Thunder Bay decided to go to a local ServiceOntario to update her home address on her driver’s licence, after first checking the website to confirm the service location offered services in French.
/en/our-work/case-stories/be-or-not-be-french
Family feud
Issues: Group home; Rights (Good care) A 16-year-old youth living in a group home complained to our Office that staff at the home were not allowing him to contact certain members of his family because his mother – his legal guardian – did not want him speaking to them. Our Children and Youth Unit …
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A 16-year-old youth living in a group home complained to our Office that staff at the home were not allowing him to contact certain members of his family because his mother – his legal guardian – did not want him speaking to them.
/en/our-work/case-stories/family-feud
Vote for fairness
A young person in custody contacted us last year to complain that he wasn’t able to vote in the federal election, although he had expressed his interest in voting to the youth facility’s staff members. In our review, we found that the facility didn’t have a proper process in place to ensure that …
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A young person in custody contacted us last year to complain that he wasn’t able to vote in the federal election, although he had expressed his interest in voting to the youth facility’s staff members.
/en/our-work/case-stories/vote-fairness
Fish story
When new signs were installed at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's Fish Culture Station in North Bay, some Francophone residents noticed something fishy - the signs were in English only. Photos of them circulated on social media and in the local newspaper, and caught the notice of …
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When new signs were installed at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's Fish Culture Station in North Bay, some Francophone residents noticed something fishy - the signs were in English only.
/en/our-work/case-stories/fish-story
Safe slumber
Issues: Children’s aid society; Rights (Get help) A 16-year-old living in a foster home sought our help when she was invited to spend the night at a friend’s house, but her foster care agency denied her request, citing COVID-19 restrictions. She told us her children’s aid society worker was not …
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A 16-year-old living in a foster home sought our help when she was invited to spend the night at a friend’s house, but her foster care agency denied her request, citing COVID-19 restrictions.
/en/our-work/case-stories/safe-slumber
Opportunity granted
A former master’s student who began to work in her field just before she completed her degree complained to us that the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) had deemed her ineligible for an Ontario Student Opportunities Grant, due to unreported income. She conceded that she had inadvertently …
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A former master’s student who began to work in her field just before she completed her degree complained to us that the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) had deemed her ineligible for an Ontario Student Opportunities Grant, due to unreported income.
/en/our-work/case-stories/opportunity-granted
Proven parenthood
A father whose wife died in childbirth sought our help in obtaining a birth certificate and Social Insurance Number for the new baby, which he needed in order to claim survivor benefits. Registrar General officials told him one of the forms he had filled out was invalid, and he would have to …
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A father whose wife died in childbirth sought our help in obtaining a birth certificate and Social Insurance Number for the new baby, which he needed in order to claim survivor benefits.
/en/our-work/case-stories/proven-parenthood
No longer a loan
After being injured and hospitalized, a college student was unable to complete his one-year course, so the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) converted his $15,000 grant to a loan. He sought our help in asking OSAP to convert the loan back to a grant, so he could apply for further funding to …
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After being injured and hospitalized, a college student was unable to complete his one-year course, so the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) converted his $15,000 grant to a loan.
/en/our-work/case-stories/no-longer-loan
Right to review
We helped a parent who was refused an identification, placement and review committee (IPRC) to assess her daughter’s giftedness in kindergarten. She was told that the school board did not do IPRCs before Grade 3. We pointed out to the board that, under the Education Act , it did not have the …
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We helped a parent who was refused an identification, placement and review committee (IPRC) to assess her daughter’s giftedness in kindergarten.
/en/our-work/case-stories/right-review
A message in French will follow
With the current pandemic and the necessity to work from home, using conference call lines has become the norm in many organizations. The French Language Services Unit received a complaint that the greeting message on one of the conference call lines being used by the Ontario Public Service (OPS) …
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With the current pandemic and the necessity to work from home, using conference call lines has become the norm in many organizations.
Issue: Children’s aid society A 15-year-old emailed us that she was being physically and verbally abused by her mother, and had started to self-harm and even attempted suicide as a result. Our Children and Youth Unit connected her to a children’s aid society and the Kids Help Phone crisis line. We …
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A 15-year-old emailed us that she was being physically and verbally abused by her mother, and had started to self-harm and even attempted suicide as a result.
/en/our-work/case-stories/cry-help
Whose sewage
A trailer park owner contacted us when a dispute arose about responsibility for the municipal sewage system servicing the park. She and her family had maintained the sewage collection part of the system for many years, on the understanding that they owned the property it was on, while the …
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A trailer park owner contacted us when a dispute arose about responsibility for the municipal sewage system servicing the park.
/en/our-work/case-stories/whose-sewage
After the fire
After firefighters used foam containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) to put out a fire at her property, a woman complained to us about how long it was taking to ensure her water was safe to drink. Officials at the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks told us a new …
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After firefighters used foam containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) to put out a fire at her property, a woman complained to us about how long it was taking to ensure her water was safe to drink.
/en/our-work/case-stories/after-fire
Post-mortem correction
A woman sought our help in getting the Registrar General to help her correct an error she made on her mother’s death certificate. When we inquired about the delay in processing her request, we discovered that staff there had misspelled her name on the file. Both errors were addressed, and she was …
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A woman sought our help in getting the Registrar General to help her correct an error she made on her mother’s death certificate.
/en/our-work/case-stories/post-mortem-correction
Starting anew
A man complained to us after trying for years to resolve a name discrepancy with ServiceOntario. Our inquiries with the Ministry of Transportation, ServiceOntario and the Registrar General revealed that ServiceOntario had processed his request to change his name on his driver’s licence. However, he …
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A man complained to us after trying for years to resolve a name discrepancy with ServiceOntario.
/en/our-work/case-stories/starting-anew
Debt free
A man sought our help when he was contacted by a collections agency many years after receiving funding from Second Career – a program now operated by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. He was told he had to repay the $28,000 he had received through the program – plus interest …
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A man sought our help when he was contacted by a collections agency many years after receiving funding from Second Career – a program now operated by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.
/en/our-work/case-stories/debt-free
Sorry process
We have resolved several complaints over the past three years about the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), which nominates skilled immigrant workers for permanent residency. The Ministry took steps to address issues of poor customer service and delay in this program. It also worked with our …
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We have resolved several complaints over the past three years about the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), which nominates skilled immigrant workers for permanent residency.
/en/our-work/case-stories/sorry-process
Record time
A driver who moved to B.C. sought our help after waiting for a copy of his driving record from Ontario for 7 weeks. He needed the record to start his new job as a transit operator. When he didn’t receive it after the advertised delivery period of 10-15 business days, he contacted the Ministry …
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A driver who moved to B.C. sought our help after waiting for a copy of his driving record from Ontario for 7 weeks.
