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Displaying 81 - 100 of 159

Help is en route

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.

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.

Address unknown

A woman sought our help when she found out her driver’s licence had been suspended for medical reasons five years earlier, without her knowledge. Because of the delay, she would have to repeat the graduated licensing process to get her licence reinstated. Our inquiries revealed that the Ministry …
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A woman sought our help when she found out her driver’s licence had been suspended for medical reasons five years earlier, without her knowledge.

Fax confirmed

A woman complained to us that the Ministry of Transportation had suspended her licence even though she had faxed in her eye test results a month earlier for special review. We provided the Ministry’s Medical Review Section with a copy of the fax confirmation, which showed the submission date. Staff …
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A woman complained to us that the Ministry of Transportation had suspended her licence even though she had faxed in her eye test results a month earlier for special review.

Clean record

A woman who needed to drive to visit her husband in hospital sought our help after ServiceOntario told her she could not renew her licence. The issue was an old driving offence on her record, which required that she complete three tests before her licence would be valid. She told us she had …
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A woman who needed to drive to visit her husband in hospital sought our help after ServiceOntario told her she could not renew her licence.

Slow-speed cheque

A man contacted our Office after waiting almost two years for the Ministry of Transportation to return a $5,000 security deposit. He had arranged a special permit from the Ministry to build a fence along a section of provincial highway near his property. The deposit was a Ministry requirement – …
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A man contacted our Office after waiting almost two years for the Ministry of Transportation to return a $5,000 security deposit.

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.

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.

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 T A R I O O N TA R I O ’ S WATC 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

In French, please, Your Honour

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.

For follow-up in French, press 2

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

2020-2021 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario

O N T A R I O O N TA R I O ’ S WATC H D O G Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario 2020 2021 O F F I C E O F T H E O M B U D S M A N O F O N T A R I O IS S N : 19 16 -9 18 3 Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario WHO WE ARE: An independent, impartial Office of the Ontario …
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Commissioner's Message - Taking Care of Ontario's Linguistic Health This is the second Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner presented by the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario. As we look back on the past year, we are more motivated than ever by the opportunity we have, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to find effective solutions to the challenges we confront.

Call Waiting

A woman told us that she wanted to get physiotherapy care for her father. Her phone call was transferred twice before it was answered by a bilingual staff member at her local Home and Community Support Services (HCSS) office. We raised the issue with the regional agency of Ontario Health, which …
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A woman told us that she wanted to get physiotherapy care for her father.

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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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