'Lack of resources' for vulnerable people a top concern for departing ombudsman (The Trillium)

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Sneh Duggal
March 31, 2026
The Trillium

When it comes to some of society's most vulnerable, including youth involved in the child welfare sector and those with complex needs, Ombudsman Paul Dubé says his biggest concern is a lack of resources.

"Whether it's being able to provide adequate care and support within a community, an Indigenous community or non-Indigenous community, whether it's having the resources in terms of placements and not having to put up kids in hotels and in offices and trailers and these temporary, unacceptable situations, it speaks to a lack of resources and lack of options," Dubé told The Trillium in an interview on Monday, the day before wrapping up a decade as the province's ombudsman. 

Children's Aid Societies (CASs), for example, have for years been saying they "don't have enough options, we don't have enough resources, we want to do better," said Dubé. 

"I think that is my biggest concern ... the lack of adequate resources for these agencies that have such crucial and important services to provide, and the need is so acute for these services," he said. 

During his time as ombudsman, Dubé has highlighted complaints from families of children with complex needs who felt they had no choice but to surrender their children to Children's Aid Societies to get care for them, adults with developmental disabilities who are being inappropriately housed in hospitals due to a lack of services in their communities and child welfare agencies placing youth, particularly those with special needs or challenging behaviours, in unlicensed settings such as hotels, Airbnbs or CAS offices. 

On youth being placed in unlicensed settings, the ombudsman announced in the fall of 2024 that his office would investigate this practice and the government's response to it. 

He said Monday that the investigation is underway, "it's progressing well," and a report could be expected in the "relatively near future."

Dubé said whether it's youth in care or people with developmental challenges, "the attention is coming too slowly, and the allocation of resources is coming too slowly, and it's challenging because the needs are so great."

"I wish things would happen faster, and I wish that the investments and the attention would be more acute," he said.

But he remained hopeful.

He released a report last fall, "Lost in Transition," that focused on the "unnecessary hospitalization" of several individuals and the challenges they faced, including being restrained and losing life skills. 

Dubé said he believes there were improvements since his first report on the issue in 2016, which highlighted that people were finding themselves in hospitals, prisons, long-term care homes, homeless shelters and on the street.

"What we tried to convey when we did the last report is in all of the areas, but the hospitals, things have improved a lot," he said. "I wouldn't say the problem is solved, but they have improved a lot."

He also pointed to the provincial budget that was released last week and the additional funding of $186 million for the upcoming year that the government allocated for the Ontario Autism Program.

"My hope is that the advocacy will continue to have an impact, because I think that it is getting attention," he said. "I know that this office will continue to put out reports that shine a light on these situations and get attention to them."

He highlighted two other issues that have been close to his heart during his tenure — trying to contribute to reconciliation and correctional services in Ontario, with Dubé referring to corrections as "one of the most persistent and difficult" issues.

In his final report released last week, Dubé reiterated a call for "urgent reform" in the province's correctional system.

His office received a record 6,870 complaints about correctional facilities in 2024-25, a 55 per cent increase over the previous year. 

"Overcrowding remains chronic, staffing shortages lead to cancelled programs, and prolonged lockdowns confine people to cells for excessive and dangerous periods. Conditions continue to deteriorate, creating growing safety risks, both for staff and for those in custody," Dubé's report stated.

He said on Monday that he's tried to "dispel the notion that if somebody is in a provincial correctional facility, 'they must be a bad person, they must have done something terrible, we should just lock them up and forget about them.'"

Dubé said he's tried to stress that with about 80 per cent of people in the province's jails awaiting trial and the remainder serving two years or less, a majority will go back into the community in the short-term.

"So it's in our interest for them to come back not worse off than they went in," he said. "And I give the example that if they have to join a gang in prison for protection, when they get out, they're going to be part of that gang."

He also spoke of his visits to Grassy Narrows First Nation and Neskantaga First Nation, the latter of which has faced a boil water advisory for 30 years.

"I spent days in those communities, and I was just deeply, deeply moved by the people and the reception I got there, but also challenges that they face," said Dubé.

He spent one morning at a school where he saw children arriving for the day. 

"I was told beforehand that 50 per cent of the kids in that school are on the autism spectrum, no drinking water, they've grown up with water bottles their whole lives, as their parents have, and yet, the first thing they did when they got into class is they sang, 'O Canada,'" he said. "It was very, very moving."

Earlier this month, the ombudsman released an Indigenous Services Plan aimed at improving his office’s relationship with Indigenous communities and contributing “to the broader journey of reconciliation.”

'I found my people'

Dubé said he stayed for a second term as the province's ombudsman because of the "tremendous joy" and "privilege" of doing the job, but also because there was still more to do after his first term. 

The first few years were really about developing an understanding of the work and developing a vision, whereas his second term was more about implementing that vision, said Dubé.

He said everything he did prior to taking on the role of provincial ombudsman, including spending years as a criminal lawyer and being appointed the country's first taxpayers’ ombudsman, helped prepare him for it.

Dubé said he soon discovered that the ombudsman world was "a much better fit for my personality."

"From the adversarial world to the collaborative world and the problem-solving world, I find it a much better fit," he said.

"I used to go to these criminal law conferences with all these A-type personalities and bragging about their BMWs and their condos in Florida," he said, adding that, when he went to his first ombudsman conference, it was different. "People said, 'Do you feel supported? Do you have what you need? Can we be of assistance?' And I thought, 'Gee, I've found my people,' so it's been great."

As for what's next, Dubé said he plans to slow down, spend time with his daughter and take the summer to figure out what follows. 

"I just look back, it's been a remarkable journey," he said. "I don't know where I'll end up next, but I just feel very blessed to have had this opportunity to contribute in my small way."