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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 …
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

Rental funding issues

A woman applied for Ontario Works benefits and was told she qualified for $1,850 to cover the first and last month's rent payments for an apartment she was moving into in August. However, a short time later, she was told she only qualified for $825 - the cost of the first month's rent - and …
A woman applied for Ontario Works benefits and was told she qualified for $1,850 to cover the first and last month's rent payments for an apartment she was moving into in August.
/en/our-work/case-stories/rental-funding-issues

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 …
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 parking

A ​woman who was working temporarily in Ontario and renting a house with no private parking complained to us when the municipality denied her a street parking permit because her vehicle had out-of-province plates. We confirmed that this is the municipality's policy, but it is reviewing its permit …
A ​woman who was working temporarily in Ontario and renting a house with no private parking complained to us when the municipality denied her a street parking permit because her vehicle had out-of-province plates.
/en/our-work/case-stories/no-parking

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, …
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

Lack of clear mechanism

We received complaints of alleged violations of the councillor code of conduct in a township. While reviewing the complaints, we determined that the code of conduct wasn't readily available to the public, and there was no clear mechanism for making a complaint. Immediately following our inquiries, …
We received complaints of alleged violations of the councillor code of conduct in a township.
/en/our-work/case-stories/lack-clear-mechanism

Fee factor

A homeowner complained that a $1,950 fee he paid to make a severance application was not refunded when his application was denied. Our inquiries with the municipality revealed that the application fee is non-refundable, but this is not communicated to applicants before they pay. The municipality …
A homeowner complained that a $1,950 fee he paid to make a severance application was not refunded when his application was denied.
/en/our-work/case-stories/fee-factor

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 …
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

Distance discount

A distance education student complained he was asked to pay fees for various services only available on campus, such as student lifestyle fees. We referred him to information on the university’s website about compulsory and non-compulsory fees, and provided information about how to get a refund of …
A distance education student complained he was asked to pay fees for various services only available on campus, such as student lifestyle fees.
/en/our-work/case-stories/distance-discount

Denied assistance

A homeless teenager who could not live with either parent was denied assistance through Ontario Works and was not provided with anything in writing about how to appeal the decision. After Ombudsman staff made inquiries with a supervisor at Ontario Works, the teen’s mother confirmed that he was …
A homeless teenager who could not live with either parent was denied assistance through Ontario Works and was not provided with anything in writing about how to appeal the decision.
/en/our-work/case-stories/denied-assistance

Clarifying our jurisdiction

A town clerk contacted our office after the local council, which was considering establishing a code of conduct, expressed the view that it did not need to appoint an Integrity Commissioner, because any complaints related to the code of conduct could be forwarded to the Ombudsman for review. We …
A town clerk contacted our office after the local council, which was considering establishing a code of conduct, expressed the view that it did not need to appoint an Integrity Commissioner, because any complaints related to the code of conduct could be forwarded to the Ombudsman for review.
/en/our-work/case-stories/clarifying-our-jurisdiction

Buy the book

A student who bought $1,000 worth of textbooks for her studies at the suddenly-closed Everest College complained that foot-dragging by officials at the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities caused her to miss a deadline to receive a 60% refund on the books, which were now worthless to …
A student who bought $1,000 worth of textbooks for her studies at the suddenly-closed Everest College complained that foot-dragging by officials at the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities caused her to miss a deadline to receive a 60% refund on the books, which were now worthless to her.
/en/our-work/case-stories/buy-book

Billing bungle

A man complained after he received a municipal hydro bill of $1,300, when his normal monthly bill was around $29. The company told him his bills had been incorrect for the past two years, but would not provide him evidence of the errors. After Ombudsman staff spoke with the hydro company’s director …
A man complained after he received a municipal hydro bill of $1,300, when his normal monthly bill was around $29.
/en/our-work/case-stories/billing-bungle

Back in action

An Everest College student who was away from the school on medical leave when it abruptly closed was turned down for assistance in enrolling in a new program because his college record did not list him as an active student at the time of the closure. When Ombudsman staff provided Training …
An Everest College student who was away from the school on medical leave when it abruptly closed was turned down for assistance in enrolling in a new program because his college record did not list him as an active student at the time of the closure.
/en/our-work/case-stories/back-action

Admit one

A would-be Bachelor of Education student complained that he was denied admission because of a mistake in his application due to a miscommunication with the university. We referred him to the university’s dispute resolution service. Read about how we helped other people in our Selected cases . … …
A would-be Bachelor of Education student complained that he was denied admission because of a mistake in his application due to a miscommunication with the university.
/en/our-work/case-stories/admit-one

A processing predicament

A woman complained to us after her acceptance into a university program through the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC), was somehow not processed, meaning she lost her spot and was put on a waitlist. Our Office referred her to OUAC first, to determine whether the error occurred as …
A woman complained to us after her acceptance into a university program through the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC), was somehow not processed, meaning she lost her spot and was put on a wait list.
/en/our-work/case-stories/processing-predicament

A learning experience

A would-be Bachelor of Education student complained that he was denied admission because he included a one-on-one teaching experience in his application - he said the university did not make it clear that he should not do so. We referred him to the university’s dispute resolution service. Our staff …
A would-be Bachelor of Education student complained that he was denied admission because he included a one-on-one teaching experience in his application - he said the university did not make it clear that he should not do so.
/en/our-work/case-stories/learning-experience

Zero balance

A student enrolled in a college’s early childhood education program, but was unable to attend. She did inform the college, but because she missed the deadline to withdraw from the course, she received a grade of zero and was asked to pay $1,400 in outstanding program fees. Our review determined …
A student enrolled in a college’s early childhood education program, but was unable to attend. She did inform the college, but because she missed the deadline to withdraw from the course.
/en/our-work/case-stories/zero-balance

To be fair

A student who had been expelled from university after an academic fraud inquiry complained to us that the university failed to respond to its own ombudsman’s report on his case, which raised concerns about the fairness of the inquiry and the sanctions it imposed. The university had changed its …
A student who had been expelled from university after an academic fraud inquiry complained to us that the university failed to respond to its own ombudsman’s report on his case, which raised concerns about the fairness of the inquiry and the sanctions it imposed.
/en/our-work/case-stories/be-fair

Sold out

A man contacted our Office after his municipality closed and sold a road allowance adjacent to his property. His family had used the land to access the river, but they were not notified by the municipality or given the chance to purchase a portion of the land, contrary to municipal policy. The …
A man contacted our Office after his municipality closed and sold a road allowance adjacent to his property. His family had used the land to access the river, but they were not notified by the municipality or given the chance to purchase a portion of the land, contrary to municipal policy.
/en/our-work/case-stories/sold-out