A man visited a ServiceOntario location to renew his licence plate after he tried to renew it online without success. He was shocked to learn that the vehicle was no longer registered in his name and that ServiceOntario records indicated it had been sold and scrapped. He called us for help in …
Body
A man visited a ServiceOntario location to renew his licence plate after he tried to renew it online without success.
/en/our-work/case-stories/secret-sale
Sticky situation
A man complained to us that he was wrongly charged more than $1,800 for the licence plate stickers on his heavy commercial vehicle. He said the charges should not apply to him, as his vehicles are only used seasonally and not for the full year. Result: We contacted senior officials at the Ministry …
Body
A man complained to us that he was wrongly charged more than $1,800 for the licence plate stickers on his heavy commercial vehicle.
/en/our-work/case-stories/sticky-situation
Breathe easy
Tired of the GO trains that often sat idling near his home, a man asked us for help in raising the matter with Metrolinx. He told us he believed the fumes were causing him health issues. Result: We spoke to Metrolinx staff, who confirmed GO trains do not idle for more than 30 minutes at a time. In …
Body
Tired of the GO trains that often sat idling near his home, a man asked us for help in raising the matter with Metrolinx.
/en/our-work/case-stories/breathe-easy
Cost of ownership
A woman contacted us for help in correcting the ownership information for her deceased parents’ house, which had been in the family for close to 50 years but had mistakenly been left in the previous owner’s name at the time they bought it. The error in the land registry documents resulted in the …
Body
A woman contacted us for help in correcting the ownership information for her deceased parents’ house, which had been in the family for close to 50 years but had mistakenly been left in the previous owner’s name at the time they bought it.
/en/our-work/case-stories/cost-ownership
Service connection
The family of a client of the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) told us they were alarmed to hear from their relative’s cellphone provider that their bills – which the OPGT is supposed to pay on the client’s behalf – had not been paid in several months. The family paid the arrears to …
Body
The family of a client of the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) told us they were alarmed to hear from their relative’s cellphone provider that their bills – which the OPGT is supposed to pay on the client’s behalf – had not been paid in several months.
/en/our-work/case-stories/service-connection
Misrouted rent
A landlord came to us for help after her tenant finally paid her overdue rent directly to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) – and the money was sent to the previous owner of the building instead. Result: After we stepped in, the LTB agreed to pay the landlord the overdue rent while it recouped …
Body
A landlord came to us for help after her tenant finally paid her overdue rent directly to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) – and the money was sent to the previous owner of the building instead.
/en/our-work/case-stories/misrouted-rent
Pending licence
A financial advisor who had paid the fee to renew his licence with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) complained to us after waiting more than two months for a confirmation from them. He told us he was frustrated because without his licence, he could not continue to serve …
Body
A financial advisor who had paid the fee to renew his licence with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) complained to us after waiting more than two months for a confirmation from them.
/en/our-work/case-stories/pending-licence
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 …
Body
A woman came to us after trying for nine months to get an error corrected on her mother’s death certificate.
/en/our-work/case-stories/resolved-gratitude
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 …
Body
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.
/en/our-work/case-stories/payment-found
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 …
Body
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.
/en/our-work/case-stories/certified-win
First Nations HST rebate program
We received complaints from members of First Nations about delayed reimbursements under the Ontario First Nations HST rebate program. The program, run by the Ministry of Finance, provides eligible First Nations people, bands, and band councils with rebates of the 8% provincial portion of the HST …
Body
We received complaints from members of First Nations about delayed reimbursements under the Ontario First Nations HST rebate program.
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 …
Body
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.
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 …
Body
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.
/en/our-work/case-stories/married-name-mishap
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 …
Body
We heard from a man who was waiting for a new long-form birth certificate for his son.
/en/our-work/case-stories/long-last
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 …
Body
A man came to us for help when a problem with his birth certificate prevented him from applying for federal employment insurance (EI).
/en/our-work/case-stories/writing-wrongs
Motorcycle mix-up
A man noticed that the driver’s licence he’d had for four years did not indicate that he was also qualified to drive a motorcycle. He told us that DriveTest and the Ministry said his only recourse was to start the motorcycle licensing process all over again. RESULT: After we intervened, Ministry …
Body
A man noticed that the driver’s licence he’d had for four years did not indicate that he was also qualified to drive a motorcycle.
/en/our-work/case-stories/motorcycle-mix
Kept in suspense
A senior sought our help when his driver’s licence was suspended, just seven months after he had gone through an extensive process with the Driver Medical Review Office to get it reinstated. RESULT: When we raised the case with Ministry officials, they clarified that although they had asked the man …
Body
A senior sought our help when his driver’s licence was suspended, just seven months after he had gone through an extensive process with the Driver Medical Review Office to get it reinstated.
/en/our-work/case-stories/kept-suspense-0
Correcting the record
A transgender woman who changed the name and sex designation on her driver’s licence contacted us in frustration after being told that her car insurance would now cost more. She said that in making the changes, the Ministry had given her an entirely new licence number, which was no longer connected …
Body
A transgender woman who changed the name and sex designation on her driver’s licence contacted us in frustration after being told that her car insurance would now cost more.
/en/our-work/case-stories/correcting-record
Surprise eviction
A woman called us for help on the morning that she, her partner and three children were being evicted. She was shocked that her landlord had obtained an eviction order, because they had agreed to a rent repayment plan during a Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) hearing months earlier, and she had been …
Body
A woman called us for help on the morning that she, her partner and three children were being evicted.
/en/our-work/case-stories/surprise-eviction
Lack of urgency
A landlord who claimed her tenant was threatening to kill her and her children asked for an urgent hearing with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). Seven months later, still waiting, she sent in a form asking for an expedited hearing, saying the tenant was damaging her property – but her matter …
Body
A landlord who claimed her tenant was threatening to kill her and her children asked for an urgent hearing with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).
