Long-term solution

After filing a complaint in French with the Ministry of Long-Term Care about a situation in a long-term care home, a woman received a phone call from an inspector to share information about the inspection that was conducted. The woman told us the inspector began the conversation by acknowledging that she had asked to be served in French. The inspector then apologized for not being able to speak French.

The woman said she was told there were no French-speaking staff on the inspector’s team, and the inspector asked if she would agree to receive the information in English. She told us that since she had been waiting for this call for more than a week, she felt her only option was to agree to listen to the inspector’s report in English, which she did.

Measure 9 of Ontario Regulation 544/22 prescribes that agencies have a process in place to ensure that once someone has requested service in French, they “will continue to be served in French at every step without having to ask for French service again.”

Result
After we raised this case with the Ministry, it informed us that the protocol in such a situation is that when a French-speaking inspector is not available, a French-speaking employee must initiate the phone call in the inspector’s presence. The employee reads the report in French to the Francophone caller, and, if necessary, can act as an interpreter between them and the inspector. The Ministry indicated that the process requires that the employee and inspector arrange a meeting to prepare for the call beforehand.

In this case, the Ministry reminded the inspector of the requirements for an active offer of service in French, and provided her with information, resources and training materials to prevent the situation from happening again. In addition, an email was sent to all staff reminding them to complete “active offer” training, and the Ministry added in-person service in French to the topics discussed at its next staff meeting.