Search

Displaying 1 - 20 of 97

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)   Case Update (Annual Report 2023-2024) Case Update (Annual Report 2022-2023) Investigation into the plight of adults with developmental …

Suitable support

A father in crisis sought our help to find services and supported living for his son, a 15-year-old with complex special needs. He told us his son was prone to violence and had been taken to hospital by police on several occasions. RESULT: We spoke with the involved agencies and Ministry staff to …
A father in crisis sought our help to find services and supported living for his son, a 15-year-old with complex special needs.

Appeal to reason

A woman had her ODSP application denied after a year of waiting. Her daughter then submitted documents multiple times for an appeal of the decision, but was told the appeal wasn’t processed because she didn’t include specific information in the body of her email. When she sent yet another email …
A woman had her ODSP application denied after a year of waiting.

Pricey blunder

A woman sought our help because she hadn’t received Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) payments or drug benefits from August 2020 to October 2021. RESULT: After our intervention, the manager reviewing the file discovered the woman’s caseworker had made a mistake in calculating her benefits. …
A woman sought our help because she hadn’t received Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) payments or drug benefits from August 2020 to October 2021.

Long-distance resolution

A woman who had been living outside of Canada for 15 years sought our help in obtaining more than $25,000 in child support through the Family Responsibility Office (FRO). When she left Ontario, she had asked the FRO to hold the payments for her as they accumulated, as it was easier for her to cash …
A woman who had been living outside of Canada for 15 years sought our help in obtaining more than $25,000 in child support through the Family Responsibility Office (FRO).

Helpful information

An international student at a college of applied arts and technology requested a tuition refund when he decided to leave his program and return home to India. The college told him he had missed its deadline to withdraw and receive a refund. He asked our Office for help, saying the financial …
An international student at a college of applied arts and technology requested a tuition refund when he decided to leave his program and return home to India.

Fair trade

A student sought our help after his college told him he would have to retake a trade course he had already effectively completed, which would delay his graduation and the full-time employment he had arranged. His college had given him under 48 hours to accept an opportunity to complete additional …
A student sought our help after his college told him he would have to retake a trade course he had already effectively completed, which would delay his graduation and the full-time employment he had arranged.

Course correction

A group of 50 students at a university reached out to our Office for help after they all failed the same course. The students, most of whom were international students, raised concerns about the instruction, grades and feedback they received from the university, and the financial consequences of …
A group of 50 students at a university reached out to our Office for help after they all failed the same course.

Time to reconsider

A college student in an online learning program sought our help after he lost access to one of his courses. He complained that there wasn’t sufficient warning that there was a time limit to complete the course. The college pointed to its fine print, which explained the time limit, and told the …
A college student in an online learning program sought our help after he lost access to one of his courses.

Funding frustration

The mother of an 11-year-old with autism and developmental disabilities contacted us when she wasn’t able to access funding under the Ontario Autism Program (OAP) or the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities program (ACSD), even though she believed her child was eligible for both. When …
The mother of an 11-year-old with autism and developmental disabilities contacted us when she wasn’t able to access funding under the Ontario Autism Program (OAP) or the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities program (ACSD), even though she believed her child was eligible for both.

Suspended payment

A woman was owed thousands of dollars in support payments by a former spouse who was living in British Columbia. She told us she was concerned that the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Unit of the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), which handles interprovincial cases, was not enforcing a court …
A woman was owed thousands of dollars in support payments by a former spouse who was living in British Columbia.

Seal of disapproval

A man who pays family support through the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) complained to us that the FRO was garnishing too much from his federal disability payments, leaving him unable to pay his rent. We raised the case with FRO staff, noting that a recent court order set out how much it could …
A man who pays family support through the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) complained to us that the FRO was garnishing too much from his federal disability payments, leaving him unable to pay his rent.

Post-mortem refund

A man who had continued to make regular family support payments to his former mother-in-law, who had cared for his now-adult daughter, complained to us after he learned the older woman had been dead for more than a year. He alerted the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) – which had administered the …
A man who had continued to make regular family support payments to his former mother-in-law, who had cared for his now-adult daughter, complained to us after he learned the older woman had been dead for more than a year.

Voicemail jail

An Ontario Works (OW) recipient urgently needed help when her benefits were suspended because she submitted some paperwork late. She had been in and out of hospital, and needed drug coverage to continue her medical treatments, but could not reach her OW caseworker. When we contacted OW staff, we …
An Ontario Works (OW) recipient urgently needed help when her benefits were suspended because she submitted some paperwork late.

Breaking the bank

A woman who was owed more than $10,000 in support payments from her ex-husband complained to us that she had provided documents to the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) proving that he had the money in a bank account, but the FRO would not take action. Our inquiries determined that the man’s money …
A woman who was owed more than $10,000 in support payments from her ex-husband complained to us that she had provided documents to the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) proving that he had the money in a bank account, but the FRO would not take action.

Found money

A mother had been waiting for months to access support funding to assist with her nine-year-old son’s developmental mental health conditions. She was concerned that his behaviour was escalating and putting himself and others at risk. After we contacted officials at the Ministry of Children, …
A mother had been waiting for months to access support funding to assist with her nine-year-old son’s developmental mental health conditions.

Power arrangers

A woman who was behind on her hydro bills asked Ontario Works (OW) for help to avoid getting disconnected. The agency granted the request, but accidentally transferred an extra $1,600 to the utility, which added it to the woman’s account. She assumed it was additional COVID-19 support, as OW had …
A woman who was behind on her hydro bills asked Ontario Works (OW) for help to avoid getting disconnected.

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 …
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.

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 …
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.

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 …
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.