A man filed a complaint about Ontario Health’s job postings. The link for applications transferred job seekers to a third-party site. That site and the job postings on it were in English only. A message at the end of each job description indicated that the French version would be available shortly. …
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A man filed a complaint about Ontario Health’s job postings.
A woman informed us that French subtitles had disappeared from the videos on the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s Facebook page entitled “ Lieux de travail de l’Ontario [Ontario At Work].” Although this page is in French, the majority of the videos are in English …
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A woman informed us that French subtitles had disappeared from the videos on the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s Facebook page entitled “Lieux de travail de l’Ontario [Ontario At Work].”
/en/our-work/case-stories/without-subtitles
2021-2022 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario
Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario O F F I C E O F T H E O M B U D S M A N O F O N TA R I O . 2021 2022 O N TA R I O O N TA R I O ’ S WAT C H D O G Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario We are: O N TA R I O An independent Office of the Legislature that resolves and …
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Commissioner's Message - The future begins now
This is already my third Annual Report as French Language Services Commissioner, within the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario.
When I reflect on the progress we have achieved since May 1, 2019, I am proud of the work we have accomplished. My objective with this report is to take stock and to seize the opportunity to look to the future, in light of possibilities arising from the modernization of the French Language Services Act.
A Francophone man who wanted some information about renewing his licence plate contacted our Office because he was unable to obtain service in French from a ServiceOntario office in a designated area. We raised the issue with the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, which ensured that …
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A Francophone man who wanted some information about renewing his licence plate contacted our Office because he was unable to obtain service in French from a ServiceOntario office in a designated area.
/en/our-work/case-stories/help-en-route
Continuing education
A woman contacted us to complain about her experience with inadequate French services from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, both during telephone conversations and in written communications in response to her access to information request. We contacted Ministry staff, who committed to …
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A woman contacted us to complain about her experience with inadequate French services from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, both during telephone conversations and in written communications in response to her access to information request.
/en/our-work/case-stories/continuing-education
Please remain seated
A man studying online for his real estate certification complained to us after he was accused of leaving his seat during a virtual exam and then locked out of the program. He insisted that he had never left his seat, and that a glitch in the virtual proctoring technology had mistakenly identified …
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A man studying online for his real estate certification complained to us after he was accused of leaving his seat during a virtual exam and then locked out of the program.
/en/our-work/case-stories/please-remain-seated
Conversion confusion
A man who had accidentally submitted incorrect information to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) sought our help when OSAP converted his $32,000 grant to a loan. He told us that because of the mistake, OSAP had concluded that his wife was employed, when in fact she lived in Afghanistan …
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A man who had accidentally submitted incorrect information to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) sought our help when OSAP converted his $32,000 grant to a loan.
/en/our-work/case-stories/conversion-confusion
Vaccination pass
A university student who was exclusively enrolled in online courses and as an online teaching assistant complained to us that he was “unenrolled” because he did not provide proof that he had received the COVID-19 vaccine. He complained that there was no clear appeal process, and no distinction was …
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A university student who was exclusively enrolled in online courses and as an online teaching assistant complained to us that he was “unenrolled” because he did not provide proof that he had received the COVID-19 vaccine.
/en/our-work/case-stories/vaccination-pass
Please try again later
We received a complaint from a Francophone who contacted the Ministry of Finance regarding provincial property taxes in an unorganized territory in Northern Ontario. He said he had to wait on the phone for about an hour before he could reach a bilingual agent. After this call, the man tried to call …
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We received a complaint from a Francophone who contacted the Ministry of Finance regarding provincial property taxes in an unorganized territory in Northern Ontario.
/en/our-work/case-stories/please-try-again-later
French connections
A person complained that some LinkedIn accounts of the Ontario government and its agencies, including those of the Ministry of Transportation and Ontario Health, showed a unilingual English logo and title. We contacted the Cabinet Office, which completed a ministry-wide audit to ensure that all …
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A person complained that some LinkedIn accounts of the Ontario government and its agencies, including those of the Ministry of Transportation and Ontario Health, showed a unilingual English logo and title.
/en/our-work/case-stories/french-connections
Transit news, now bilingual
A man informed us that although he had chosen to receive the Metrolinx e-newsletter about the Ontario Line in French, it was still being emailed to him in English every week. Through our discussions with Metrolinx, a government agency under the Ministry of Transportation, we found out that the …
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A man informed us that although he had chosen to receive the Metrolinx e-newsletter about the Ontario Line in French, it was still being emailed to him in English every week.
Strengthening the Designation: A Collaborative Effort
O N TA R I O O N TA R I O ’ S WAT C H D O G Strengthening the Designation: A Collaborative Effort Investigation into Laurentian University’s cuts to French-language programming during restructuring and into the administration of the university’s designation by the Ministry of Francophone Affairs …
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Investigation into Laurentian University’s cuts to French-language programming during restructuring and into the administration of the university’s designation by the Ministry of Francophone Affairs and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities
We were contacted by a person who requested a bilingual hearing at a courthouse in Northern Ontario. However, at the time of the hearing, the judge present could only speak English and no other means of providing services in French were available. The self-represented person could not follow the …
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We were contacted by a person who requested a bilingual hearing at a courthouse in Northern Ontario.
A man contacted the provincial COVID-19 vaccine system by phone and chose the “French” option to request his proof of vaccination by mail. He contacted us to point out that the follow-up call from the Ministry of Health to verify that he had received his proof of immunization was in English. As a …
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A man contacted the provincial COVID-19 vaccine system by phone and chose the “French” option to request his proof of vaccination by mail.
/en/our-work/case-stories/follow-french-press-2
Electrifying solution
We were contacted by a person living in a designated area of Eastern Ontario who requested the French version of an inspection report conducted by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA). The ESA is a Delegated Administrative Authority that does not meet the definition of a government agency under …
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We were contacted by a person living in a designated area of Eastern Ontario who requested the French version of an inspection report conducted by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA).
/en/our-work/case-stories/electrifying-solution
Problem extinguished
A man working at a French-language school board contacted us because he wanted to obtain the French version of the Fire Code (Regulation 213/07 of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act ) in order to know the provisions that apply to school facilities. The regulation is only available in English. …
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A man working at a French-language school board contacted us because he wanted to obtain the French version of the Fire Code (Regulation 213/07 of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act) in order to know the provisions that apply to school facilities.
/en/our-work/case-stories/problem-extinguished
Cured by translation
We were contacted by a person who visited the Ontario Health Data Platform website to learn more about a Ministry of Health research project – only to discover the site was only available in English. We raised the issue with the Ministry, which explained that the site and the platform were not for …
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We were contacted by a person who visited the Ontario Health Data Platform website to learn more about a Ministry of Health research project – only to discover the site was only available in English.
/en/our-work/case-stories/cured-translation
Improvements on track
We were contacted by a Francophone woman after she tried to call Metrolinx. Although she chose the French phone line, she said the agent who took the call could only speak English. The agent asked if she was able to continue the conversation in English, which she declined to do. The agent then …
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We were contacted by a Francophone woman after she tried to call Metrolinx. Although she chose the French phone line, she said the agent who took the call could only speak English.
/en/our-work/case-stories/improvements-track
The award goes to…
We were contacted by a person who watched the Trillium Awards ceremony on Facebook on June 17, 2020, which was held in English only. This person was particularly offended by the fact that the portion of the awards ceremony for French-speaking artists was in English only. We raised the issue with …
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We were contacted by a person who watched the Trillium Awards ceremony on Facebook on June 17, 2020, which was held in English only.
/en/our-work/case-stories/award-goes
Errors identified
In February 2021, the government launched an online consultation to get ideas and feedback on its plan to introduce a digital ID (digital identification). The goal of the program is to make it easy and completely secure for individuals and businesses in Ontario to prove their identity online. A …
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In February 2021, the government launched an online consultation to get ideas and feedback on its plan to introduce a digital ID (digital identification).