The Ombudsman Act
The Ombudsman’s authority to investigate complaints is set out in the Ombudsman Act, legislation that allows the Ombudsman to report on findings annually and through special reports which are made public. Under Bill 8, the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, 2014, the Ombudsman’s mandate has been expanded to the “MUS” part of Ontario’s “MUSH sector” (municipalities, universities, school boards, hospitals and long-term care homes, children’s aid societies and police): The Ombudsman can investigate complaints about school boards as of September 1, 2015, and municipalities and universities as of January 1, 2016. Learn more here. In 2008, legislation passed allowing the Ombudsman to investigate closed municipal meetings.