2023

A Francophone municipal employee in Eastern Ontario was invited to take part in an English-only survey on the quality of municipal and provincial emergency management programs.

A Francophone filed a complaint about an announcement of a public consultation on the reform of housing industry regulations posted to the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery’s French LinkedIn page.

A Francophone reached out to us because he was unable to find French versions of posts on the social media accounts of Lotto Max (Facebook, Instagram and X).

A Franco-Torontonian reached out to let us know that content on Infrastructure Ontario’s X account (@InfraOntario) about plans for an upcoming spa, water park and multi-storey parking garage at Ontario Place was only available in English.

Two Francophone students from Northern Ontario reached out to us with concerns about the quality of the French version of the accreditation exam for emergency medical care assistants.

A Francophone member of the military contacted us about a regulation in the Environmental Protection Act that he needed for work, but was not available in French.

Walking to work one day, a man noticed English-only signs about the upcoming construction of Corktown Station in Toronto for the future Ontario Line.

Our Unit handled a case involving more than 600 English-only road signs in Northern Ontario, reported by a Francophone who told us he drove more than 800 kilometres to document them.

A Francophone resident from the Sudbury area informed us about an English-only sign marking the French River on Highway 69, located between Parry Sound and Sudbury.

A man called the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) call centre in December 2022 to make an online purchase.

A Francophone who had been unemployed for a long time requested a background check from the OPP so he could be hired for a new job.

As he drove to Hamilton in a snowstorm, a driver noticed that the French version of the government’s emergency weather alerts broadcast on the radio were garbled and unintelligible.

A Francophone teen at a secure treatment centre run by a designated organization was having trouble accessing services in French, including in the classroom.

A Francophone representing himself in a dispute received an English-only email inviting him to sign up for the CaseLines platform (used by Ontario courts) to upload his documents for an upcoming hearing.

An Eastern Ontario mom reached out to us on behalf of her daughter.

A Francophone with an Outdoors card noticed that the eye colour field on his (bilingual) card was in English only (“brown”).

A man who had moved from Quebec to Ontario had initiated the process to change his driver’s licence.

A Francophone man in Northern Ontario called 511 to get information on driving conditions and selected service in French.

A Franco-Torontonian contacted us to say that the web page for the “Tow Zone” pilot program operated by the Ministry of Transportation showed stickers in English only on the vehicles of authorized towing companies.

The doctor of a Francophone woman who needed surgery was of the opinion that it would be too risky for her to drive.

A woman in Northern Ontario went to the emergency room of a designated hospital and was greeted by an employee who asked her COVID-19 screening questions in English only.

A patient at a designated hospital in Northern Ontario told us that on one of her many visits to the hospital, she had noticed multiple unilingual English posters, including one that said “Tell us how we’ve done,” as well as posters in French with errors, including one that misspelled “défense de vapoter” (vaping prohibited).

A Francophone told us about her partner’s experience after undergoing heart surgery in a partially designated hospital.

A blind Francophone man complained to us after a designated community health centre in Northern Ontario sent him confidential, encrypted documents regarding his health in English only.

A Francophone man required services from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) after he was injured at work.

A Francophone woman received a construction notice in English only from Metrolinx, which had been mailed to tenants of a residential building in Toronto.

A man went to a ServiceOntario branch in central west Toronto to get an accent added to his first name on his health card.

While at work, a Francophone man noticed that the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) had published a notice on its website in English only about a proceeding.

A Francophone woman who was in a car crash in the Ottawa region received a bill from the Ministry of Transportation’s Highway Incident Claims Unit.

A Francophone in Eastern Ontario reached out to tell us about her experience as a witness to a situation while camping.

An inmate sought our help because he was housed on the same range with another inmate who was facing charges for stabbing him – and, he told us, was now extorting him for access to the canteen, food and phone calls.

An inmate told us a correctional officer threw him to the ground and started punching and kneeing him – leaving the inmate with swollen arms and a broken hand.

A woman whose common-law spouse had died while they were living in a homeless shelter complained to us that the Chief Coroner’s Office had buried him even though she had requested to claim the body.

A woman complained to us about how her municipality handled her request to convert a shipping container into a garden shed.

A woman reached out to us because her family’s subsidized housing unit was uninhabitable after a fire.

Three residents told us that construction near their homes had caused their wells to dry up.

Shortly before the day of the October 2022 municipal election, several voters in one municipality complained to us that their mail-in ballots arrived too late.

A woman sought our help after her husband, who recently had an aneurysm, underwent a capacity assessment to determine his ability to make decisions about his property and personal care.

A community support worker contacted us with concerns about a 97-year-old neighbour.

A single mom of a child with a disability contacted us in desperation.

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.

A woman was owed thousands of dollars in support payments by a former spouse who was living in British Columbia.

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.

After he suffered a traumatic brain injury, an eight-year-old boy in the care of a northern children’s aid society (CAS) was airlifted from his home community to a rehabilitation hospital in southern Ontario.

Issues: Children’s aid society; Rights (Fairness)

A youth who was turning 18 called us for help when plans for her to enter a transitional housing program and complete her final semester of high school fell through.

Issues: Children’s aid society; Rights (Good care); Rights (Fairness)

A 16-year-old complained that staff at his group home weren’t helpful to him after his personal belongings, including a laptop, were stolen or damaged by other youths living in the home.

Issues: Group home; Rights (Good care); Rights (Safety)

A vendor complained to us after attempting to bid on a school board’s fire alarm testing contract.

A college student in an online learning program sought our help after he lost access to one of his courses.

A Francophone student complained to us that his French-language high school couldn’t provide him with a “section 23” program, which is support provided through the ministries of Education and Children, Community and Social Services to students who cannot attend school due to identified social, emotional, behavioural or mental health needs.

A mother complained to us that her child’s school bus route was far too long, averaging four hours per day.

A man was trying to renew a health card on behalf of his son, who has a disability and does not have a driver’s licence.

A pregnant woman who had tested positive for an infection contacted us when she received the results from Public Health Ontario and realized that the wrong follow-up test had been done.

A mother sought our help when a DriveTest centre wouldn’t let her daughter bring her certified service dog on her road test.

A mother contacted us in frustration about the conduct of a driving instructor towards her son, a student driver.

An aspiring hot dog vendor complained to us after waiting for two years for a letter from the Ministry to confirm that his custom-built propane-fueled hot dog cart did not require a vehicle identification number or licence plate.

A woman contacted us after a difficult experience trying to resolve a traffic ticket.

A woman who was born in Ontario but living in Quebec applied for a name change after discovering that her birth registration listed the wrong name.

A woman applied for a replacement birth certificate for her adult son, who has a disability, but her request was cancelled because her ex-husband had also applied for a birth certificate for him (ServiceOntario does not permit individuals to have two birth certificates).

A woman who immigrated to Canada as a child sought our help in changing her name on official documents.

A woman who had been approved for a second payment of $10,000 from the Ontario Small Business Support Grant program, sought our help after months of waiting.

An injured worker had been approved by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to see a doctor some distance from his home.

A Francophone man in Quebec had been told he still owed dues for his trade licence, dating back to when he lived in Ontario a decade ago.

An environmental group complained to us when they didn’t hear back from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry about their concerns related to a development project’s unregulated grey water and natural septic systems.

When a conservation authority approved a permit to fill regulated flood plains, we received several complaints from local residents concerned about the negative effects on the environment.

A mother contacted our Children and Youth Unit because she was concerned that her son might have been hurt by a staff member in a group home.

Issues: Children’s aid society; Group home; Rights (Safety)

The Office of the Children’s Lawyer contacted us on behalf of a 17-year-old who was trying to get the cost of braces for her teeth covered by her children’s aid society (CAS).

Issues: Children’s aid society; Voluntary Youth Services Agreement (VYSA); Rights (Good care)