A woman was paying $200 per month to Legal Aid for the services of a family law lawyer. After spending $3,600 and losing her case, she felt her lawyer had not adequately represented her. The lawyer agreed not to charge anything for his services and wrote to Legal Aid, asking that the woman’s money be returned.

A single mother with two daughters used Legal Aid for two family law matters in 2006. She had originally agreed to pay more than $6,000 in monthly installments, but stopped paying Legal Aid because she fired her lawyer and represented herself in court. In January 2010, when seeking financing for a new car, she was surprised to learn that Legal Aid had referred her case to a collection agency. She complained to the Ombudsman that Legal Aid had not brought this debt to her attention, and that she did not believe she owed the full $6,000. She did not know how she would be able to pay the outstanding debt, and she feared that the involvement of the collection agency could jeopardize her job in the financial sector, where she was required to pass a credit check.

A man complained to the Ombudsman on the day that his security guard licence was set to expire. He had passed the necessary exam and submitted his renewal application, but accidentally made his cheque out to the wrong provincial ministry.

The owner of a children’s dance studio contacted the Ombudsman after he learned that the Ministry had decided to open a Probation and Parole office in the same building as his studio.

An inmate called the Ombudsman because he was eligible for parole in one week and he was afraid his request for a parole hearing would not be submitted on time. His Institutional Liaison Officer had not met with him to begin the process, which takes four to six weeks. Ombudsman staff discovered that delays in processing parole hearing requests were routine at the institution.

An inmate who was suffering from psychological distress wrote to the Ombudsman for help. He had had mental and physical trauma many years before and felt his mental health concerns were not being addressed by his correctional facility.

An inmate who was being given methadone called the Ombudsman and reported that he had been accidentally given a double dose. Because such a high dose could potentially be fatal, he was taken to hospital as a precaution. The inmate complained that this caused him anxiety and discomfort and he wanted to make sure it would not happen again to him or any other inmate.

The mother of a developmentally delayed woman with severe intellectual and behavioural challenges contacted the Ombudsman on her daughter’s behalf in the fall of 2010. The woman had been institutionalized since she was seven years old. In 2008, when the facility she lived in was about to be closed, she was transferred to a group home.

A group of inmates complained to the Ombudsman that they had not received clean clothes for some time – in some cases over a month. The inmates were upset and some expressed concern that fights might break out over the issue.

A father contacted the Ombudsman out of frustration after trying in vain to find out from the Family Responsibility Office how much he owed in child support arrears. The debt was affecting his credit rating, but each time he contacted the FRO to clarify what he owed, he was given a different amount – ranging from $6,000 to $27,000. He feared that the FRO was attempting to get him to pay for a period when his child was living with him and he was not required to pay support.

An Ontario Works recipient applied for ODSP and had her application approved after an appeal. She was anxious for her ODSP benefits to start, as the extra funds and coverage available would assist her in paying expenses related to her ongoing battle with cancer, including chemotherapy treatments.

A woman entered into an agreement with ODSP in 2005 whereby ODSP deducted $240 from her monthly benefit cheque to pay her electricity bill. The agreement was supposed to last one year, but ODSP refused the woman’s requests to end it. She also complained that the monthly deductions had been inconsistent.

A woman contacted the Ombudsman after she received copies in the mail of two decisions by the Social Benefits Tribunal on appeals she had filed. She was shocked to read in the documents that she had been unwell on the day of the hearings and thus did not attend.

In March 2010, the wife of a Canadian soldier serving in Afghanistan moved to a new home with her daughter and father. Their first two Hydro One bills were small, manageable amounts. But their third bill was $1,500.

When a Hydro One representative called to discuss upgrades on her “commercial” property, a woman learned that it had been mistakenly charging her commercial rates for her residential electricity. She advised Hydro One of the error and it agreed to send an agent to visit her property. Hydro One also informed her she had been overcharged $500 because of the mistake.

A father turned to the Ombudsman after delays in his request to the Registrar General to make changes to his two daughters’ birth certificates. The parents’ names on the certificates needed to be amended to match the parents’ passports. This was necessary for the family to apply for visas for a trip to India to attend a family wedding. They had already spent $7,500 in booking the trip.

A stay-at-home mom decided to upgrade her skills to re-enter the workforce. At her local employment assessment centre, she was told she would be eligible for funding for community college through the Ontario Skills Development Program (OSDP) until October 2009.

A father sought the Ombudsman’s help after he was billed twice for an online request for his daughter’s birth certificate in 2009. When he initially filled out the online form, the session had timed out and he could not confirm that his payment was accepted. He had to log in again and, thinking that there might have been a problem with the credit card he used the first time, he used another one.

A woman complained to the Ombudsman after she received a bill for $1,879 in co-payment charges from the hospital where her 94-year-old mother had been for about a month before she died in April 2010.

An elderly man who travelled to China frequently to visit his family was notified by OHIP in May 2010 that he was no longer eligible for health coverage because he did not meet the residency requirements – i.e., he had to be present in Ontario for 153 days in a 12-month period.

A woman who was diagnosed with two potentially fatal aortic aneurysms in April 2010 was told she needed surgery immediately, but the procedure was not available in Canada.

In October 2010, the Ombudsman received complaints from two families whose children were receiving human growth hormone medication through the Hospital for Sick Children. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Exceptional Access Program required that approval for funding the drug be obtained every year.

A man who had been injured at work when he was 29 years old had his loss-of-earnings benefits cut off by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in 2001 because his employer had offered him potentially suitable work. He continued to have severe pain and was unable to work.

A community college student was told that if she completed her program with sufficiently high marks, she would be eligible to have a portion of her student loans forgiven under the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant program, as she is a single mother of four children.

A man in his eighties who had a record of good driving for more than 68 years was trying to complete the requirements for his driver’s licence renewal. He complained to the Ombudsman about a delay in the Ministry of Transportation’s review of the results of tests he had been required to undergo by an ophthalmologist, gerontologist, and occupational therapist, due to problems with his peripheral vision.

The mother of a young woman who was dying of cancer complained to the Ombudsman in May 2009 about delays in her daughter’s Medical Loan Forgiveness Application to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), which was submitted in January 2009.

A 19-year-old woman submitted an online OSAP application and was provided with an estimate of the financial assistance she would receive if she were to study hairstyling at a community college.

A woman suffering from brain damage and memory loss complained to the Ombudsman that she was about to be cut off ODSP and would be evicted if she could not pay her rent.

A science and nursing student at a community college complained to the Ombudsman that she was being charged the same tuition fees as a full-time student, even though she was only taking two courses, or less than half the normal load.

The father of a 15-year-old boy with severe special needs, including Asperger’s Syndrome, attention deficit hyperactive disorder and anxiety disorder, contacted the Ombudsman for help in paying for the boy’s medication.

A man who bought a used car from a private seller for $14,000 complained to the Ombudsman when he was unable to register it with the Ministry of Transportation.

A diabetic senior who lives alone on a fixed income contacted the Ombudsman when her reimbursement cheque for the cost of her insulin needles failed to arrive.

A correctional centre inmate complained to the Ombudsman about an error in the paperwork recording the amount of time he was supposed to serve in jail.

A man complained to the Ombudsman that FRO was not enforcing a June 2005 court order directing his ex-wife to pay $1,079 per month for their two children.

A woman contacted the Ombudsman after learning that Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) had sent her file to a collection agency, accusing her of failing to pay an outstanding bill and affecting her credit rating.

A woman was sent to the United States to give birth to twins, due to a lack of space at her local hospital.

A man who had been in jail awaiting trial for 5½ months had his trial date moved up eight days.

When their mother could not care for them, three children moved in with their grandmother so they would not have to be placed with the local children’s aid society (CAS). The grandmother spent $1,700 on school supplies, clothes and other items for the children.

In July 2009, an MPP’s office filed a complaint with the Ombudsman on behalf of a constituent who disagreed with her 2006 property assessment from MPAC and who had filed an appeal in June 2006 with the Assessment Review Board (ARB).

A disabled dad was receiving monthly income support from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). His cognitively impaired son, whom he had been homeschooling since 2005, lived with him.

A woman complained to the Ombudsman that Legal Aid Ontario sent her a bill dating back to 1991 for $802.28 and advising her that a lien had been registered against her house for nonpayment.

A homeowner was surprised to receive a survey in the mail from Hydro One that was directed at commercial business owners.

A 28-year-old woman with mental health issues and a genetic disorder suffered from severe depression and post-traumatic stress after injuring herself in a group home.

A woman who was looking after her 81-year-old bedridden mother at home saw her Hydro One bill rise to $600 a month because her mother required the constant use of oxygen and ventilation machines.

A man complained to the Ombudsman that FRO was demanding he arrange payment of some $12,500 in support arrears, despite a court order that stayed the collection of those arrears.

A woman who lost her job and then her house due to a workplace shutdown applied to a college of applied arts and technology.

A single mother of six who was one month away from delivering her seventh child contacted the Ombudsman after her family’s Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage was revoked because they had been out of the country for too long.

A woman complained to the Ombudsman that the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), would not release a support payment of $1,200 that her ex-husband had made, even though she was owed almost $7,000.

A woman who had been laid off from her job was approved for the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities’ Ontario Skills Development program, which covers school and living costs to retrain workers.

A 23-year-old unemployed man who was in the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities’ apprenticeship program attended a Ministry-approved training course.

A woman called Hydro One to set up an account as she and her husband moved into a new apartment. Unbeknownst to the couple, Hydro One had set up an account in the wife’s name at the wrong apartment – and had been billing her for the neighbour’s electricity since 2006.

In early June 2008, a woman called FRO to complain that she had not received support payments from her ex-husband for six months.

A woman complained to the Ombudsman that she had not received a claim cheque that the Ministry of Transportation had agreed to send her five weeks earlier.

A recent university graduate complained to the Ombudsman that she had been wrongly charged interest on her student loans for a year-long period during which she was still a student.

A 40-year-old man who was being held in a detention centre called the Ombudsman’s Office for help after he was diagnosed with liver cancer and told he had only a few months to live.

A 70-year-old man had developed end-stage renal failure and was in need of a kidney transplant. He was told by his hospital that patients on the Ontario kidney transplant waiting list had to wait a minimum of 5-6 years for an organ. His doctor advised him that if he waited that long, he would be at an age and in a physical condition where he would not be able to undergo surgery.

A single mother of three children complained to the Ombudsman’s Office that the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) had wrongly wiped out a debt of more than $60,000 in child and spousal support owed to her by her ex-husband.

A 16-year-old student at a provincial school for the deaf who was gradually losing her eyesight due to a genetic condition complained to the Ombudsman that the school refused to provide her with the services of an “intervenor”.

A New Brunswick man was employed in Ontario on a contract in 2003. He purchased a new vehicle in July 2003, just prior to returning home, and paid Ontario retail sales tax of $1,529.

A new bride who had been married in Antigua applied to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to have her married name reflected on her driver’s licence. She presented the required documents, including her original marriage certificate from Antigua, at two local licence issuing offices. Each time, the Ministry’s head office rejected her marriage certificate as not “original.”

A woman whose ex-husband had failed to pay her spousal support payments for 10 years complained to the Ombudsman about the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), which had been unable to find him, much less enforce his support obligations.

A man who had closed his business in 1998 was surprised to receive a tax bill from the Ministry of Finance nine years later – for more than $10,000 in unpaid sales taxes plus interest.

A man had a number of renovations done to his home in April 2008, including the installation of foam insulation in his basement. To help pay for the upgrades, he was counting on assistance from the Home Energy Audit and Retrofit Rebate Program.

A man who lost his leg in a workplace accident complained to the Ombudsman that the Ministry of Labour’s investigation was flawed because the inspector who conducted it had previously worked for the company where the incident occurred. An Ombudsman investigator determined the Ministry’s investigator had in fact worked for the company in question for 24 years – in fact, he had only left the company 18 months before, and this investigation was his first for the Ministry.

An MPP contacted the Ombudsman’s Office on behalf of a constituent who felt the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) was not taking adequate enforcement measures against her ex-husband

An inmate in a provincial jail was appealing a court decision in his case. He had provided the necessary paperwork for his appeal to the jail’s records clerk, but was told that the institution had sent the documents to the wrong court.

A truck driver complained to the Ombudsman about delays in renewing his commercial “A-class” licence.

A woman complained to the Ombudsman after fighting with Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) officials for six years over their calculation that they had overpaid her and she owed them more than $10,000.

An Ontario man complained to the Ombudsman that he was being penalized twice for a drunk-driving offence.

A Sault Ste. Marie woman gave birth to a three-pound baby girl, 11 weeks premature. The baby was taken to a hospital in London, Ont. for special care, but the mother was unable to go with her.

The parents of a disabled 17-year-old Sault Ste. Marie boy – two senior citizens with a limited income – applied for a Northern Health Travel Grant on their son’s behalf, for reimbursement of $1,150 in expenses incurred in travelling to Toronto so he could have surgery. Their application was rejected twice because it was not signed by the youth – despite a letter from the family’s doctor explaining that the boy’s physical and mental disabilities made it impossible for him to sign.

A woman complained to the Ombudsman about delays in finalizing the adoption of her daughter.

A diabetic senior who cannot tolerate synthetic insulin and can only use pork insulin complained to the Ombudsman that the Ontario Drug Benefit Program refused to pay for it.

A 55-year-old woman had been trying for eight years to obtain a birth certificate so she could apply for a passport and take a trip outside Canada with her husband. She was told that her birth had never been registered.

After winning an appeal of his case before the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), a man who had been injured at work expected to receive a substantial sum of money, representing several years’ worth of retroactive worker’s compensation payments. Weeks later, he was astonished to receive a letter from the WSIB asking him how he planned to repay an “overpayment” of $119,239 that he owed to them.

Nine former foreign students who were living and working in Ontario under the federal Post-Graduation Work Permit Program complained to the Ombudsman about being refused health coverage under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).

A patient diagnosed with prostate cancer was turned down by the Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP) for a surgical procedure that he and his physician believed to be available only in the United States. After spending $40,000 on the U.S. surgery, however, the man learned that it had in fact been available in Ontario, but OHIP officials had failed to inform him of this.

A learning-disabled man who was enrolled in college as a mature student had been taking courses since 1999, repeating several of them until he successfully passed. When he finally completed enough courses to apply for his diploma, he was shocked to discover the college had a policy that courses must be completed within a four-year time limit.

After a decade of unsuccessful treatments and pain, an Ontario orthopedic surgeon recommended Mr. J have ankle replacement surgery. Since the local wait time was three years, the man was granted $35,000 in out-of-country funding to have the procedure performed in the U.S. – but one month before the scheduled operation, he was turned away because the implants he needed were no longer approved by U.S. authorities.

A 60-year-old man called the Ombudsman’s Office from the Toronto Jail, insisting he had been arrested by mistake. He said he had been ill and missed his court date for driving with a suspended license, for which he was convicted in absentia and given a $6,000 fine.

A son complained that it took two years for his father to be transferred from the Ontario Works Program to the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). Yet once the transfer was finally made, ODSP would not grant the man retroactive benefits. What’s more, he was told he could not appeal because he had missed ODSP’s 15-day deadline for requesting an internal review.

Ms. L’s 83-year-old mother suffered from dementia and had recently moved into a long-term care facility. Her financial affairs were being handled by the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT).

A man who suffers from a rare and debilitating disorder that causes more than 50 severe headaches a day was doing well on a combination of drugs prescribed by his neurologist – one of which required special approval by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for coverage.

Ms. C called the Ombudsman’s Office at her wit’s end, after a decade-long battle with a children’s aid society (CAS). In 1992, she became a foster parent for two brothers, both with special needs, aged 1 and 2.

A visually impaired man who relies on a guide dog was denied access to a GO Transit bus on two occasions because the bus driver was allergic to dogs. Despite his complaints to GO, the man and his guide dog were again denied access by the same allergic driver.

A mother of two young children whose ex-husband had defaulted on his support payments couldn’t believe he was getting away with it. A final default order had been issued in September, threatening him with jail, but now it was December and nothing had happened.

A university student tried for two years to obtain reimbursement of thousands of dollars in medication costs from the Trillium Drug Program. He had sent in all his information and receipts in 2005, but when he called in 2006 to ask why he had not heard back, he was told Trillium had moved and his receipts had apparently been lost.

A woman in a tragic situation contacted our Office for help. She was on welfare, she had two severely disabled children and her husband was dying of cancer.

Mr. G complained that the Ontario Labour Relations Board had posted its decision in his case on its website for all to see – without informing him. Ombudsman staff discovered that he was not alone – applicants and respondents before the Board were not generally notified that the decisions in their cases were accessible by the public through its website and other sources.

The owner of a missing cat was relieved to find it at the local animal shelter. But before he could take the cat home, he had to pay for the food, care and treatment that had been provided. He was also ordered by the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) to continue the veterinary care the cat had been receiving while at the shelter. Believing some of the veterinary expenses to be unnecessary, the man asked the Animal Care Review Board to revoke the order and have him reimbursed.

In the hopes of making contact with her brother who was given up for adoption at birth, a woman listed her personal information with the province’s Adoption Disclosure Register (ADR). When the search turned up nothing, she suspected it had not been done properly.

A run of bad luck prompted a man to call the Ombudsman’s Office: He had lost his wallet, and was waiting for a replacement birth certificate to arrive from the Office of the Registrar General (ORG). Then he had an accident and required surgery – but his health card had expired and the Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP) told him he couldn’t get a new one without a birth certificate.

Mr. D’s family was concerned that the long-term care home he was living in was not meeting the standards of care set out by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The Ministry investigated the family’s concerns and advised them it had required the facility to fix things – but it would not give further details.

In September of 2000, Mr. P paid $1,600 that he owed in child support. But unbeknownst to him, in July of that year, the FRO had filed a Writ of Execution against him to secure the debt.

A mother who telephoned the Office of the Registrar General (ORG) about a birth certificate for her son was put on hold – for 3 hours and 15 minutes – even though the pre-recorded message on the line said the wait would be 20-30 minutes. While she was on hold, she used her cell phone to call the Ombudsman’s office.

A resident of northern Ontario had to travel to Winnipeg to see a specialist for medical treatment. She was denied funding for her travel costs under the Ministry of Health’s Northern Health Travel Grant program because the doctor was not certified as a specialist by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

An elderly couple took on the responsibility of caring for their young grandchildren following the death of their daughter in April 2000. In November 2000, a court order gave custody of the children to their father and ordered that the grandparents pay him $609 per month from money held by them in trust for the children’s support. The couple made the payments through the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) until a second court order terminated the payments in February 2001. The FRO received a copy of this order, but did not register it in their records.

With the help of his hospital, a man applied to the Ministry of Health’s Assistive Devices Program (ADP) for a semi-annual payment of $300 for the medical supplies he required after ostomy surgery. His application was turned down, however, because of an error. By the time the form was returned to the hospital, the error corrected and the form returned, many months had passed. The ADP refused him his $300 cheque for the first six months of the year, telling him his application could not be “back-dated.”

The Ombudsman received a complaint from a social worker at an Ontario children’s hospital about the impact of a decision to stop funding the prosthesis insertion procedure for boys under the age of 18 who had lost testicles due to disease or other conditions. The social worker complained on behalf of a group of caregivers at the hospital, including doctors and nurses.

The owners of a show dog blamed the dog’s premature death on a veterinarian. They complained to the College of Veterinarians of Ontario and, dissatisfied with the College’s decision, appealed to the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board.

A man contacted the Ombudsman’s Office in fear of bankruptcy, after the Trillium Drug Program turned down his request for help with his wife’s drug costs of $350-400 per month.

A man who had been trying for nine months to have his surname changed through the Office of the Registrar General contacted the Ombudsman in frustration. The Registrar General’s staff would not process the name change because they said the man’s spelling of his middle name did not match the spelling in their records.

A man who had recently moved to Ontario from the U.S. kept hitting a brick wall in trying to obtain a driver’s licence, despite 40 years’ driving experience. The Ministry of Transportation advised him that the papers he had produced from the U.S. did not provide enough information about his driving history. The man complained to the Ombudsman, as he needed a licence to drive to work and take his children to school.

A social worker contacted the Ombudsman’s Office on behalf of a patient who had had part of one leg amputated, and needed hemodialysis treatments three times a week at a local hospital. The patient received Canada Pension Plan Disability benefits and his municipality subsidized his accommodation in a retirement home. Still, after he paid his monthly accommodation fees, he had $116 left for all his other expenses, out of which he had to pay $96 a month to a community-based agency for transportation to his hemodialysis treatments.

A mother of three who has multiple sclerosis complained to the Ombudsman that her special ODSP diet allowance, which had allowed her to be on a high-protein diet, had been cut from $250 per month to $20 per month in April 2006, following changes to the Ministry’s eligibility requirements.

A female inmate in a correctional facility complained to the Ombudsman’s Office that she and other prisoners were being exposed to raw sewage. She claimed that correctional officers had been given protective masks to wear, but not the inmates.

The president of a company that manufactures outerwear complained about the fairness of the Ministry’s tendering process for $2.5 million worth of outdoor patrol wear, primarily for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). Among his concerns was that some of the tender specifications regarding the outer fabric layer of the patrol jacket were not justified – he alleged the OPP were using these requirements to target a specific company to make the jackets.

A student nurse had almost reached her graduation day after two years at a community college when she, along with 35 other students, received an e-mail from the college registrar telling them to pay an extra tuition fee of $527.10 – or they would not get their diplomas. Like most students, she was struggling to make ends meet. The extra tuition fee was deducted from her Ontario Student Assistance Program cheque, leaving her only $285 to live on.

A recipient of Ontario Disability Support Program benefits had accumulated an outstanding Hydro bill of $1,947. When she came to the Ombudsman for help at the end of October 2006, she had been a given deadline of mid-November to pay the bill plus all arrears, which she was unable to do, given her limited income.

A woman paid more than $7,500 in tuition to a community college on behalf of her niece, who was coming from abroad to study in Ontario. When the niece was unable to obtain a student visa, the college would not refund the tuition money without a letter confirming the visa had been denied.

A woman with significant mental health problems was at risk of having her ODSP benefits cut off because she refused to meet with program staff. She had received an eviction notice and was on the verge of becoming homeless.

Two members of a Métis family had been writing to the Ministry of Natural Resources for more than six years, requesting an exemption from and a reimbursement of the payment of commercial fishing royalties, based on their aboriginal status. They hoped the money refunded could help support their elderly mother, but complained their requests had been denied while other Métis had received similar reimbursements.

Within a month of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a woman contacted the Ombudsman’s Office because she was worried about getting funding for medication she would need. Her doctor had applied to the Ministry of Health’s Individual Clinical Review process and she had received an e-mail indicating it was approved.

A single mother of an autistic teen contacted the Ombudsman’s Office out of frustration after she tried to obtain funding for summer transportation for her son to a specialized treatment centre about 50 kilometres away. The family’s regional school board provided transportation during the school year, but in summer the mother’s only recourse had been to pay thousands of dollars in taxi fares.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) stipulates that people moving to Ontario who have been out of the country for more than seven months must wait three months before the province will cover their health care.

A mother who had not received any child support payments complained that FRO was not doing enough. An attempt to get the delinquent support payor into court failed when he managed to evade being served with court documents. After the Ombudsman’s Office inquired into the case, the FRO ensured the man was served with the papers, the court granted a warrant of committal requiring his imprisonment, and he paid $15,000 in outstanding child support.

A woman entitled to $500 a month in support who had received nothing in six months complained to the Ombudsman about the FRO’s lax enforcement of support orders. FRO officials responded that a support deduction notice and writ of seizure on the payor’s property were in place but because the man was self-employed, he had been allowed to make an agreement to make voluntary payments