Burden of proof

A woman turned to the Ombudsman for help when she had trouble renewing her Ontario Health Insurance Plan coverage. She had been living with friends and was struggling to provide proof that she was an Ontario resident so she could renew her OHIP card before it expired on September 30.

A woman turned to the Ombudsman for help when she had trouble renewing her Ontario Health Insurance Plan coverage. She had been living with friends and was struggling to provide proof that she was an Ontario resident so she could renew her OHIP card before it expired on September 30. She tried to renew it at a ServiceOntario office in late August with online bank statements, but these were rejected as proof of residence, since they hadn’t been mailed to her.

The woman continued to gather additional information to establish her address, including documents from the Canada Revenue Agency, but before she could provide them, she received notice that her OHIP coverage had been cancelled because she didn’t provide enough proof during her August visit.

Ombudsman staff contacted the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, which confirmed that ServiceOntario shouldn’t have cancelled her health insurance prior to the expiry date and without allowing her to provide additional information. Ministry staff got in touch with the woman and were able to use the documents she had gathered to confirm her residency. Her health insurance was retroactively reinstated and the woman told Ombudsman staff: “You made my day.”