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Displaying 121 - 140 of 164

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

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.
/en/our-work/case-stories/message-french-will-follow

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

Our opinion matters

An education worker complained to our French Language Services Unit about a unilingual English survey about technology that was being conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Education. Because it was in English only, she said the survey - done by a third party - excluded the views of Francophone …
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An education worker complained to our French Language Services Unit about a unilingual English survey about technology that was being conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
/en/our-work/case-stories/our-opinion-matters

Extended parking

A woman sought our help after she was provided with a temporary accessible parking permit with a duration of only six months, when she had previously had one that lasted five years. We confirmed with ServiceOntario that in fact, the woman’s doctor had provided new information indicating that she …
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A woman sought our help after she was provided with a temporary accessible parking permit with a duration of only six months, when she had previously had one that lasted five years.
/en/our-work/case-stories/extended-parking

Failing the test

A man visited a London DriveTest centre with his son, who wanted to take the theory component of the road test, and requested services in French. He told us the person at the counter was unable to provide services in French and did not try to find a French-speaking colleague to help. Our staff …
Body
A man visited a London DriveTest centre with his son, who wanted to take the theory component of the road test, and requested services in French.
/en/our-work/case-stories/failing-test

Hold, s’il vous plaît

A francophone man complained to our French Language Services Unit that he waited an hour on the phone for service in French when he called the disability eligibility decision unit of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. He finally hung up in frustration, called back and chose …
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A francophone man complained to our French Language Services Unit that he waited an hour on the phone for service in French when he called the disability eligibility decision unit of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
/en/our-work/case-stories/hold-sil-vous-plait

Au revoir, not goodbye

A woman complained to our French Language Services Unit that the Superior Court in Toronto could not serve her in person in French, resulting in a wasted trip and frustration. Our staff contacted the administrative services of the Superior Court to assess the lack of services in French and to …
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A woman complained to our French Language Services Unit that the Superior Court in Toronto could not serve her in person in French, resulting in a wasted trip and frustration.
/en/our-work/case-stories/au-revoir-not-goodbye

Website faux pas

A French-speaking woman sought our help after she encountered difficulties with the website of the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office. Not only was the French version of the site not equivalent to the English version, it also had sections in English. We contacted the manager of the organization, …
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A French-speaking woman sought our help after she encountered difficulties with the website of the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office.
/en/our-work/case-stories/website-faux-pas

Lacking language

A man who was following the complaints process regarding a bilingual community legal clinic reached out to us after receiving an English-only version of the clinic’s complaints policy. We contacted Legal Aid Ontario, which ensured the full translation of the document into French. Learn more about …
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A man who was following the complaints process regarding a bilingual community legal clinic reached out to us after receiving an English-only version of the clinic’s complaints policy.
/en/our-work/case-stories/lacking-language

The road to French services

We received a complaint from a man who had recently moved to Canada. Although his motorcycle licence was valid in his home country, he was required to re-take the test in Ontario. The man had been assigned an English-speaking examiner for his motorcycle road test, even though he requested a …
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We received a complaint from a man who had recently moved to Canada. Although his motorcycle licence was valid in his home country, he was required to re-take the test in Ontario. The man had been assigned an English-speaking examiner for his motorcycle road test, even though he requested a French-speaking examiner in advance at a designated DriveTest centre.
/en/our-work/case-stories/road-french-services

Welcome change

A transgender man seeking a name change complained to us when his application was rejected because the sex on his birth certificate differed from the gender on his name change application. He was advised by ServiceOntario to contact the Registrar General, whose staff said he would have to submit a …
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A transgender man seeking a name change complained to us when his application was rejected because the sex on his birth certificate differed from the gender on his name change application.
/en/our-work/case-stories/welcome-change

What to expect

An international student who had completed post-secondary studies in Ontario and was now employed sought our help in communicating with ServiceOntario about getting an Ontario Health card. She complained that each time she brought in the documents they requested, their expectations changed. We …
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An international student who had completed post-secondary studies in Ontario and was now employed sought our help in communicating with ServiceOntario about getting an Ontario Health card.
/en/our-work/case-stories/what-expect

Caught in the web

A woman complained to us that the Registrar General’s website froze when she was in the midst of applying for death certificates for two family members. She went back to the website and filed the application, and alerted the Registrar General of this – but she wound up being charged for two …
Body
A woman complained to us that the Registrar General’s website froze when she was in the midst of applying for death certificates for two family members.
/en/our-work/case-stories/caught-web

Identity crisis

An elderly woman needed our help with obtaining new identification after she lost her OHIP card, her primary photo ID. She explained that because she was born at home and her birth was never registered, she did not have a birth certificate; nor did she have any immunization records, as her parents …
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An elderly woman needed our help with obtaining new identification after she lost her OHIP card, her primary photo ID.
/en/our-work/case-stories/identity-crisis

Family re-covered

We helped a father renew his daughter’s OHIP card after she had gone three years without a valid one and her application had been rejected. He explained that the family had been homeless for a time during this period, so they were unable to receive renewal notices by mail. When they finally moved …
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We helped a father renew his daughter’s OHIP card after she had gone three years without a valid one and her application had been rejected.
/en/our-work/case-stories/family-re-covered

It’s where you live

A woman who moved to Ontario from Alberta for work sought our help after her application for OHIP coverage was rejected due to inadequate proof that she resided in Ontario. Over the course of a year, all of the documents she provided to ServiceOntario to show she lived in the province were …
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A woman who moved to Ontario from Alberta for work sought our help after her application for OHIP coverage was rejected due to inadequate proof that she resided in Ontario.
/en/our-work/case-stories/its-where-you-live

The long and short of it

A mother of two boys complained to our Office when she had trouble changing her children’s names on their birth certificates, documents they needed soon to make a trip to Disneyland in the U.S. She said miscommunication by ServiceOntario staff about how she should go about amending the boys’ long …
Body
A mother of two boys complained to our Office when she had trouble changing her children’s names on their birth certificates, documents they needed soon to make a trip to Disneyland in the U.S.
/en/our-work/case-stories/long-and-short-it

Born free

An almost-retired man who wanted to get a passport to travel sought our help after three frustrating years of trying to obtain a birth certificate from the Office of the Registrar General. He complained he could not provide proof of his birth. He believed he had been born at home, as there were no …
Body
An almost-retired man who wanted to get a passport to travel sought our help after three frustrating years of trying to obtain a birth certificate from the Office of the Registrar General.
/en/our-work/case-stories/born-free

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The Ontario Ombudsman’s work takes place on traditional Indigenous territories across the province we now call Ontario, and we are thankful to be able to work and live on this land. 

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info@ombudsman.on.ca

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