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Displaying 41 - 60 of 81

Changed course

A student who was close to completing her program at a college of applied arts and technology was unsure if she had all the credits she needed for her diploma, so she enrolled in an extra course just in case. She was told that if she discovered it wasn’t necessary, her enrolment would be …
Body
A student who was close to completing her program at a college of applied arts and technology was unsure if she had all the credits she needed for her diploma, so she enrolled in an extra course just in case.
/en/our-work/case-stories/changed-course

Oh brother

In a case that officials called “unprecedented,” a brother and sister complained to us about difficulties in applying to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) – one to attend college, the other university. It turned out that the federal government had accidentally issued them identical …
Body
In a case that officials called “unprecedented,” a brother and sister complained to us about difficulties in applying to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) – one to attend college, the other university.
/en/our-work/case-stories/oh-brother

Cracking the fire code

A small business owner sought our help after he was ordered to install fire detectors and alarms on his property, noting that he could not access the technical standard of the Ontario Fire Code that was cited in the order. He was told that because the information was copyrighted, the only way to …
Body
A small business owner sought our help after he was ordered to install fire detectors and alarms on his property, noting that he could not access the technical standard of the Ontario Fire Code that was cited in the order.
/en/our-work/case-stories/cracking-fire-code

Coming up empty

A cannabis purchaser received a delivery from the OCS that turned out to be an empty box. OCS officials told him he could place a new order without charge, but he would first have to print out a return shipping label, attach it to the empty box, and send it back to them. Faced with the absurdity of …
Body
A cannabis purchaser received a delivery from the OCS that turned out to be an empty box.
/en/our-work/case-stories/coming-empty

Unsigned but delivered

A woman placed an order with the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) on October 17, 2018, the first day that recreational cannabis became legal in Canada. She complained that two weeks later, she arrived home to find the package had been left on her porch – contrary to the requirement that an individual …
Body
A woman placed an order with the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) on October 17, 2018, the first day that recreational cannabis became legal in Canada.
/en/our-work/case-stories/unsigned-delivered

Sharing the wealth

The family of a man who won $2,000 in the lottery but died before he could collect the prize sought our help in dealing with OLG officials, whom they had contacted several times over the course of four months. They were told they would have to submit the man’s death certificate, along with …
Body
The family of a man who won $2,000 in the lottery but died before he could collect the prize sought our help in dealing with OLG officials, whom they had contacted several times over the course of four months.
/en/our-work/case-stories/sharing-wealth-0

Builder beware

A man who has physical disabilities and cancer was issued a grant from the province’s Home and Vehicle Modification Program (HVMP) to build a porch lift at his home. The contractors falsely told the man that building permits were not required, and after a city inspection found it was not built to …
Body
A man who has physical disabilities and cancer was issued a grant from the province’s Home and Vehicle Modification Program (HVMP) to build a porch lift at his home.
/en/our-work/case-stories/builder-beware

Thanks a lot

A man who built an apartment building on a vacant lot in 2012 sought our help with MPAC regarding the adjusted assessment value of his property. MPAC sent the man three notices within weeks of each other, covering two four-year assessment cycles – 2009-2012 and 2013-2016. He filed a request for …
Body
A man who built an apartment building on a vacant lot in 2012 sought our help with MPAC regarding the adjusted assessment value of his property.
/en/our-work/case-stories/thanks-lot

Just missed the mark

A mother of three who was enrolled in a combined college and university nursing program was not allowed to progress to the university portion of the program because her grade in a college course was 1.5% below the required threshold. She appealed the mark, but complained to us that the college’s …
Body
A mother of three who was enrolled in a combined college and university nursing program was not allowed to progress to the university portion of the program because her grade in a college course was 1.5% below the required threshold.
/en/our-work/case-stories/just-missed-mark

Right to appeal

A university student contacted our Office with several concerns, including a stalled academic appeal, the conduct of one of his professors, administrative fees, and the university’s unwillingness to release his official transcript. Our Office made several inquiries and determined that he could …
Body
A university student contacted our Office with several concerns, including a stalled academic appeal, the conduct of one of his professors, administrative fees, and the university’s unwillingness to release his official transcript.
/en/our-work/case-stories/right-appeal

A matter of time

After signing up for “Back on Track,” a remedial program for people convicted of impaired driving, a man phoned the program to book a one-hour assessment interview. He was given the choice of several time slots. He arrived at 3:30 on the appointed day, believing he was half an hour early for the 4 …
Body
After signing up for “Back on Track,” a remedial program for people convicted of impaired driving, a man phoned the program to book a one-hour assessment interview. He was given the choice of several time slots. He arrived at 3:30 on the appointed day, believing he was half an hour early for the 4 p.m. slot. Instead, he was told the interview had actually been booked for 3 p.m.
/en/our-work/case-stories/matter-time

Tuition restitution

A student from outside of Canada, who was married to a Canadian citizen, chose to enter the country on an international student visa because it would be processed faster than her spousal visa. She enrolled at a college of applied arts and technology in fall 2013, and was enrolled during the fall …
Body
A student from outside of Canada, who was married to a Canadian citizen, chose to enter the country on an international student visa because it would be processed faster than her spousal visa.
/en/our-work/case-stories/tuition-restitution

Lost in the mail

A 62-year-old woman with Crohn’s disease required infusions every eight weeks at a cost of $4,542.76 per treatment. The woman’s private insurance covered 80% of the costs, while the Trillium Drug Program reimbursed her for the remainder, but she was reaching the lifetime maximum for her private …
Body
A 62-year-old woman with Crohn’s disease required infusions every eight weeks at a cost of $4,542.76 per treatment. The woman’s private insurance covered 80% of the costs, while the Trillium Drug Program reimbursed her for the remainder, but she was reaching the lifetime maximum for her private insurance coverage and it was about to end.
/en/our-work/case-stories/lost-mail

Insuring a house is in order

Three months after his partner died, a widower contacted us because he had not received the coroner’s report, despite writing the local coroner’s office twice. His partner had died of what appeared to be a drug overdose and he needed the coroner’s report to obtain life insurance payments. In the …
Body
Three months after his partner died, a widower contacted us because he had not received the coroner’s report, despite writing the local coroner’s office twice. His partner had died of what appeared to be a drug overdose and he needed the coroner’s report to obtain life insurance payments.
/en/our-work/case-stories/insuring-house-order

Too far to go

A mother who had been commuting two hours every day to attend classes at an Everest College campus applied for funding to resume her studies elsewhere after the college closed. However, the only program available in her field would have required a five-hour daily commute. She was offered a partial …
Body
A mother who had been commuting two hours every day to attend classes at an Everest College campus applied for funding to resume her studies elsewhere after the college closed.
/en/our-work/case-stories/too-far-go

Sorry situation

A man with a visual impairment complained to our Office that an LCBO cashier would not sell him wine unless his 19-year-old son, who was not making a purchase but only accompanying him to provide assistance, showed identification. The man had complained to the LCBO but was unsatisfied with its …
Body
A man with a visual impairment complained to our Office that an LCBO cashier would not sell him wine unless his 19-year-old son, who was not making a purchase but only accompanying him to provide assistance, showed identification.
/en/our-work/case-stories/sorry-situation

Second chance

A PhD student who was given no opportunity to repeat his final exam when he failed on his first try after 16 months of course work complained to our Office that he had hit a dead end in the university’s appeal process. Our inquiries determined that staff had misapplied university policy, and as a …
Body
A PhD student who was given no opportunity to repeat his final exam when he failed on his first try after 16 months of course work complained to our Office that he had hit a dead end in the university’s appeal process.
/en/our-work/case-stories/second-chance

Pressed for cash

A college student who was taking “compressed” courses over the summer questioned why she didn’t qualify for full-time OSAP funding, as her college had previously determined that her compressed course load made her eligible. Our inquiries determined that the college had made an error, and the woman …
Body
A college student who was taking “compressed” courses over the summer questioned why she didn’t qualify for full-time OSAP funding, as her college had previously determined that her compressed course load made her eligible.
/en/our-work/case-stories/pressed-cash

No answer

A woman on a waiting list for a popular, limited-enrolment college program called our Office for help when she could not get any information from the college about whether she had been accepted. We discovered that for this program, the college only made acceptance offers to students over the phone, …
Body
A woman on a waiting list for a popular, limited-enrolment college program called our Office for help when she could not get any information from the college about whether she had been accepted.
/en/our-work/case-stories/no-answer

Fail safe

A student complained that he had failed a course due to false information provided to his professor by a teaching assistant. We directed him back to the university’s grades appeal process, explaining that we are an office of last resort and our role is not to overturn decisions, but if he is …
Body
A student complained that he had failed a course due to false information provided to his professor by a teaching assistant.
/en/our-work/case-stories/fail-safe

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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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