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June 26, 2024

26 June 2024

Writing wrongs

A man came to us for help when a problem with his birth certificate prevented him from applying for federal employment insurance (EI).

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June 26, 2024

26 June 2024

At long last

We heard from a man who was waiting for a new long-form birth certificate for his son.

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June 26, 2024

26 June 2024

Married name mishap

A bride whose name was misspelled on her marriage certificate sought our help after waiting in vain for ServiceOntario to send her a form to request a correction.

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October 5, 2023

5 October 2023

Birth displace

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.

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October 5, 2023

5 October 2023

Copy that

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).

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October 5, 2023

5 October 2023

What’s in a name?

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

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August 10, 2022

10 August 2022

Delay of name

A mother complained to us about delays in obtaining long-form birth certificates for her two university-aged children, who needed the documents to apply for post-secondary education funding.

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August 10, 2022

10 August 2022

Apply, return, repeat

A mother contacted us in frustration after waiting several months for her son’s name change to be processed.

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May 31, 2022

31 May 2022

Helping displaced Ukrainians obtain driver's licences

As large numbers of Ukrainians have sought refuge in Ontario in the wake of Russia’s invasion of their country, Ontario has made efforts to help them settle. However, we recently heard of some having difficulty in obtaining driver’s licences.

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June 28, 2021

28 June 2021

Bad form

A father whose child was born through a surrogate mother complained to us after the Registrar General asked him to resubmit the paperwork for registering the birth, and include an additional form swearing that his statements were true.

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June 28, 2021

28 June 2021

Double time

A man complained to us about long delays in getting ServiceOntario and the Registrar General to correct a name error on his mother’s death certificate.

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November 24, 2020

24 November 2020

At your service

A small business owner reached out to us after he was unable to update the information attached to his business licence through ServiceOntario, despite several attempts.

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July 31, 2020

31 July 2020

Proven parenthood

A father whose wife died in childbirth sought our help in obtaining a birth certificate and Social Insurance Number for the new baby, which he needed in order to claim survivor benefits.

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July 6, 2020

6 July 2020

Post-mortem correction

A woman sought our help in getting the Registrar General to help her correct an error she made on her mother’s death certificate.

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July 6, 2020

6 July 2020

Starting anew

A man complained to us after trying for years to resolve a name discrepancy with ServiceOntario.

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May 29, 2020

29 May 2020

Extended parking

A woman sought our help after she was provided with a temporary accessible parking permit with a duration of only six months, when she had previously had one that lasted five years.

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June 25, 2019

25 June 2019

Caught in the web

A woman complained to us that the Registrar General’s website froze when she was in the midst of applying for death certificates for two family members.

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June 25, 2019

25 June 2019

What to expect

An international student who had completed post-secondary studies in Ontario and was now employed sought our help in communicating with ServiceOntario about getting an Ontario Health card.

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June 25, 2019

25 June 2019

Welcome change

A transgender man seeking a name change complained to us when his application was rejected because the sex on his birth certificate differed from the gender on his name change application.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Identity crisis

An elderly woman needed our help with obtaining new identification after she lost her OHIP card, her primary photo ID.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Family re-covered

We helped a father renew his daughter’s OHIP card after she had gone three years without a valid one and her application had been rejected.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

It’s where you live

A woman who moved to Ontario from Alberta for work sought our help after her application for OHIP coverage was rejected due to inadequate proof that she resided in Ontario.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

The long and short of it

A mother of two boys complained to our Office when she had trouble changing her children’s names on their birth certificates, documents they needed soon to make a trip to Disneyland in the U.S.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Born free

An almost-retired man who wanted to get a passport to travel sought our help after three frustrating years of trying to obtain a birth certificate from the Office of the Registrar General.

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June 26, 2018

26 June 2018

Hits the spot

When a woman hit a pothole on a county road that damaged her vehicle, she tried to seek reimbursement.

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June 27, 2017

27 June 2017

Identity issue

A woman who had surrendered her driver’s licence for medical reasons complained to us that she was having trouble obtaining a photo identification card from ServiceOntario.

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June 27, 2017

27 June 2017

Name changer

In 2001, after years of using his stepfather’s surname, a man decided to revert to his original birth surname. He was issued a short-form Ontario birth certificate reflecting the change.

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November 8, 2016

8 November 2016

Guard let down

A man who needed to renew his Ontario Security Guard licence for work contacted our Office for help in speeding up the process with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

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November 8, 2016

8 November 2016

Special(ist) case

A transgender man complained to our Office because he was having difficulty obtaining an updated birth certificate from the Registrar General.

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November 8, 2016

8 November 2016

New identity

After living on the streets for many years, a man sought our help in obtaining valid identification so he could apply for full-time work.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Burden of proof

A woman turned to the Ombudsman for help when she had trouble renewing her Ontario Health Insurance Plan coverage. She had been living with friends and was struggling to provide proof that she was an Ontario resident so she could renew her OHIP card before it expired on September 30.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Return to sender, address unknown

A man contacted our Office in frustration when the Ministry repeatedly sent mail to his address for a former tenant. He had returned the envelopes several times with a note stating “this person does not reside at this address,” but the Ministry mail did not stop.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Misplaced identity

A new driver complained to our Office after waiting six months for his permanent driver’s licence. He had passed the written test and turned over his Ontario-issued government photo ID to ServiceOntario, expecting a replacement card in the mail, but he never received it.

 

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

Your call is important

A 65-year-old man had his driver’s licence suspended in May 2014 after hospital staff reported to the Ministry of Transportation that he had suffered a fall that knocked him unconscious. After this incident, the man provided the Ministry with letters from three different doctors confirming he was in good health, but two months later, his licence was still suspended.

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July 28, 2015

28 July 2015

A matter of time

After signing up for “Back on Track,” a remedial program for people convicted of impaired driving, a man phoned the program to book a one-hour assessment interview. He was given the choice of several time slots. He arrived at 3:30 on the appointed day, believing he was half an hour early for the 4 p.m. slot. Instead, he was told the interview had actually been booked for 3 p.m.

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June 23, 2014

23 June 2014

Deadline Driven

A driver who suffered what he believed to be a seizure in April 2013 was diagnosed by a neurologist and, as required by the Ministry of Transportation, had his licence suspended pending a medical review. On October 28, 2013, his doctor faxed documentation to the Ministry to prove that he had been seizure-free for six months, and thus eligible to have his licence reinstated.

 

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September 1, 2005

1 September 2005

Registrar General delays: Faster Service Guaranteed

SORT’s probe of complaints of delays in processing of registrations of births, deaths marriages and name changes found an improvements since the previous Ombudsman’s investigation in 2004. In 2007, the government announced guaranteed 15-day service for post-1991 events.

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