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Adults with developmental disabilities inappropriately housed in hospitals

Media release, "Ombudsman to investigate cases of people with developmental disabilities who are inappropriately housed in hospitals " (March 27, 2023) Investigation into the plight of adults with developmental disabilities who are inappropriately housed in hospital due to a lack of supports and …

Language bridge

A Russian-speaking woman came to us for help in dealing with her daughter’s care through Ontario Health at Home. Since this matter falls under the mandate of the Patient Ombudsman, we referred her to them. However, she struggled to navigate the automated phone system and could not reach a live …
A Russian-speaking woman came to us for help in dealing with her daughter’s care through Ontario Health at Home.

Decades later

A man who was born in Portugal but has been a Canadian citizen for more than 50 years sought our help in renewing his health card. He did not have his original citizenship documents, and the Ontario Health Insurance Plan had extended his coverage to allow him time to get replacements. However, he …
A man who was born in Portugal but has been a Canadian citizen for more than 50 years sought our help in renewing his health card.

Fiscal fumble

A woman complained to us that the Trillium Drug Program made a mistake in calculating her out-of-pocket costs because they used an income tax return from the wrong year. Result: After speaking with program staff, we confirmed they were required to use information from the previous tax year, but …
A woman complained to us that the Trillium Drug Program made a mistake in calculating her out-of-pocket costs because they used an income tax return from the wrong year.

Resolved with gratitude

A woman came to us after trying for nine months to get an error corrected on her mother’s death certificate. Her mother’s birthplace was incorrect on the document, and this was causing issues in managing her estate. Result: We raised the issue with officials at the Registrar General, who agreed to …
A woman came to us after trying for nine months to get an error corrected on her mother’s death certificate.

Payment found

After four years of trying to change her legal last name, including a trip to India to get an affidavit verifying her name change from a previous marriage, a woman came to us for help. Result: We discovered the woman’s file was stalled because her payment to the Registrar General for the name …
After four years of trying to change her legal last name, including a trip to India to get an affidavit verifying her name change from a previous marriage, a woman came to us for help.

Certified win

A man with a winning lottery ticket came to us for help after the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation refused to release the six-figure prize to him because the only identification he had was an old and damaged birth certificate. He told us he had tried for months to get a new one, but the …
A man with a winning lottery ticket came to us for help after the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation refused to release the six-figure prize to him because the only identification he had was an old and damaged birth certificate.

First Nations birth certificates

We helped a First Nations community experiencing administrative barriers to obtaining birth certificates, which are generally required for people to access government services and programs. We were told that these barriers included an online registration process that was sometimes difficult to …
We helped a First Nations community experiencing administrative barriers to obtaining birth certificates, which are generally required for people to access government services and programs.

Oversight 911

O N T A R I O n n O N TA R I O ’ S WATC H D O G OVERSIGHT 911 Investigation into how the Ministry of Health oversees patient complaints and incident reports about ambulance services OMBUDSMAN REPORT PAUL DUBÉ, OMBUDSMAN OF ONTARIO MAY 2021 911 1-800-263-1830 www.ombudsman.on.ca O N TA R I O ’ S …
Investigation into how the Ministry of Health oversees patient complaints and incident reports about ambulance services

Missed Messages

O N T A R I O REPORT OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE SERVICES COMMISSIONER Carl Bouchard July 2024 Missed Messages Investigation into unilingual out-of-home government advertising regarding health services between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2023 O N T A R I O Missed Messages DIRECTOR, FRENCH LANGUAGE …
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontarians turned to the provincial government for important information on protecting their health and that of their families and communities.

Married name mishap

A bride whose name was misspelled on her marriage certificate sought our help after waiting in vain for ServiceOntario to send her a form to request a correction. We discovered that the original handwritten marriage certificate had the correct spelling, but her name had been incorrectly typed into …
A bride whose name was misspelled on her marriage certificate sought our help after waiting in vain for ServiceOntario to send her a form to request a correction.

At long last

We heard from a man who was waiting for a new long-form birth certificate for his son. He had been told to send the Registrar General some information that was missing from his initial application, but after he did so, he got no confirmation that it arrived. When we checked with Registrar General …
We heard from a man who was waiting for a new long-form birth certificate for his son.

Writing wrongs

A man came to us for help when a problem with his birth certificate prevented him from applying for federal employment insurance (EI). He was told there were inconsistencies with his parents’ names on his documents – but he couldn’t get further details from ServiceOntario. RESULT: Our inquiries …
A man came to us for help when a problem with his birth certificate prevented him from applying for federal employment insurance (EI).

Service for a smile

A woman whose daughter had to have an emergency root canal procedure – at a cost of $700 – sought our help in obtaining coverage through Healthy Smiles Ontario, a provincial program that covers dental care for eligible children and youth who are 17 and under. The child’s dentist had not enrolled …
A woman whose daughter had to have an emergency root canal procedure – at a cost of $700 – sought our help in obtaining coverage through Healthy Smiles Ontario, a provincial program that covers dental care for eligible children and youth who are 17 and under.

Action reaction

A woman reached out to us after contacting the Ministry of Long-Term Care’s Action Line with concerns about her mother’s death in a long-term care home. She felt the Ministry had failed to respond to her concerns about the medical care given to her mother, who suffered an infection and dehydration …
A woman reached out to us after contacting the Ministry of Long-Term Care’s Action Line with concerns about her mother’s death in a long-term care home.

What’s in a name?

A woman who immigrated to Canada as a child sought our help in changing her name on official documents. The Office of the Registrar General had raised questions because the name on her birth certificate and certificate of landing in Canada differed from that on later documents, when her mother …
A woman who immigrated to Canada as a child sought our help in changing her name on official documents.

Copy that

A woman applied for a replacement birth certificate for her adult son, who has a disability, but her request was cancelled because her ex-husband had also applied for a birth certificate for him (ServiceOntario does not permit individuals to have two birth certificates). She then tried to apply for …
A woman applied for a replacement birth certificate for her adult son, who has a disability, but her request was cancelled because her ex-husband had also applied for a birth certificate for him (ServiceOntario does not permit individuals to have two birth certificates).

Birth displace

A woman who was born in Ontario but living in Quebec applied for a name change after discovering that her birth registration listed the wrong name. She was rejected in both provinces – because she didn’t currently live in Ontario, and because her birth certificate wasn’t issued in Quebec. Officials …
A woman who was born in Ontario but living in Quebec applied for a name change after discovering that her birth registration listed the wrong name.

Positive test result

A pregnant woman who had tested positive for an infection contacted us when she received the results from Public Health Ontario and realized that the wrong follow-up test had been done. We made inquiries with staff at the Public Health Laboratory, who determined that the woman’s doctor hadn’t …
A pregnant woman who had tested positive for an infection contacted us when she received the results from Public Health Ontario and realized that the wrong follow-up test had been done.

Permanent solution

A man was trying to renew a health card on behalf of his son, who has a disability and does not have a driver’s licence. The only way his card could be renewed was to visit ServiceOntario in person, or have a family doctor fill out a form exempting him from the photo and signature requirement. He …
A man was trying to renew a health card on behalf of his son, who has a disability and does not have a driver’s licence.