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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

2022-2023 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario

Commissioner's Message - Tangible results

I am pleased to present the 2022-2023 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario. The Commissioner plays an important role in supporting Ontario’s Francophone community, and is responsible for monitoring compliance with the French Language Services Act and recommending ways to improve the delivery of government services in French.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Our voices matter too

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Everything at the ready

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Bet on bilingual

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).

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

A Place for French?

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

No room for failure

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Substantial improvement

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Translation in progress

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

One complaint, 600 signs

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Returning French to the French River

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Your call is important to us

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Checked out

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Alert unheard

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Fairer treatment

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Starting off right

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

That’s my name

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

In the eye of the ID holder

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Service on demand

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Road to improvement

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Zone change

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

The portal is open

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Patient understanding

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

How did we do?

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).

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

When in doubt, ask

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Double encryption

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Understanding the assessment

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Unavailable in French

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

A true active offer

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

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Continuity at work

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Understanding the bill

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.

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December 7, 2023

7 December 2023

Telephone tag

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

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

Translation audit-y

A man noticed a post in French on the Office of the Auditor General’s Twitter account, announcing the release of its annual report on the environment.

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

Language integrity

A man saw a post in French on Twitter from the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario, indicating that the latest report from the Integrity Commissioner was available, with a link to the report “Re: The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board.”

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

Equivalent access to information

A woman seeking a review as part of her work visited the website of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC).

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

“Please speak in English”

A man shared with us his family’s experience after their dying mother was admitted to a designated hospital in Northern Ontario.

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

Positive result

A man complained to us about the lack of French language services at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

Services in French at home

A woman contacted us because she was unable to obtain home care services in French for her spouse, who had lost the ability to speak English due to health problems.

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

Skills in French required

A crane operator attempted to contact Skilled Trades Ontario (STO) to request an explanation regarding an invoice and was unable to obtain services in French.

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

Entitled to inclusion

We were contacted by a Francophone mother whose child identifies as female – which represented a change from the gender assigned to the child at birth.

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

“Help wanted” in both languages

A man filed a complaint about Ontario Health’s job postings.

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December 12, 2022

12 December 2022

Without subtitles

A woman informed us that French subtitles had disappeared from the videos on the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s Facebook page entitled “Lieux de travail de l’Ontario [Ontario At Work].”

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December 7, 2022

7 December 2022

2021-2022 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario

Commissioner's Message - The future begins now

This is already my third Annual Report as French Language Services Commissioner, within the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario.

When I reflect on the progress we have achieved since May 1, 2019, I am proud of the work we have accomplished. My objective with this report is to take stock and to seize the opportunity to look to the future, in light of possibilities arising from the modernization of the French Language Services Act.

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October 18, 2022

18 October 2022

Help is en route

A Francophone man who wanted some information about renewing his licence plate contacted our Office because he was unable to obtain service in French from a ServiceOntario office in a designated area.

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September 29, 2022

29 September 2022

Continuing education

A woman contacted us to complain about her experience with inadequate French services from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, both during telephone conversations and in written communications in response to her access to information request.

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June 30, 2022

30 June 2022

Please try again later

We received a complaint from a Francophone who contacted the Ministry of Finance regarding provincial property taxes in an unorganized territory in Northern Ontario.

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May 19, 2022

19 May 2022

French connections

A person complained that some LinkedIn accounts of the Ontario government and its agencies, including those of the Ministry of Transportation and Ontario Health, showed a unilingual English logo and title.

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April 29, 2022

29 April 2022

Transit news, now bilingual

A man informed us that although he had chosen to receive the Metrolinx e-newsletter about the Ontario Line in French, it was still being emailed to him in English every week.

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March 31, 2022

31 March 2022

Strengthening the Designation: A Collaborative Effort

Investigation into Laurentian University’s cuts to French-language programming during restructuring and into the administration of the university’s designation by the Ministry of Francophone Affairs and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities

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March 23, 2022

23 March 2022

In French, please, Your Honour

We were contacted by a person who requested a bilingual hearing at a courthouse in Northern Ontario.

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January 28, 2022

28 January 2022

For follow-up in French, press 2

A man contacted the provincial COVID-19 vaccine system by phone and chose the “French” option to request his proof of vaccination by mail.

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December 7, 2021

7 December 2021

2020-2021 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario

Commissioner's Message - Taking Care of Ontario's Linguistic Health
This is the second Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner presented by the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario. As we look back on the past year, we are more motivated than ever by the opportunity we have, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to find effective solutions to the challenges we confront.

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December 7, 2021

7 December 2021

Errors identified

In February 2021, the government launched an online consultation to get ideas and feedback on its plan to introduce a digital ID (digital identification).

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December 7, 2021

7 December 2021

The award goes to…

We were contacted by a person who watched the Trillium Awards ceremony on Facebook on June 17, 2020, which was held in English only.

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December 7, 2021

7 December 2021

Improvements on track

We were contacted by a Francophone woman after she tried to call Metrolinx. Although she chose the French phone line, she said the agent who took the call could only speak English.

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December 7, 2021

7 December 2021

Cured by translation

We were contacted by a person who visited the Ontario Health Data Platform website to learn more about a Ministry of Health research project – only to discover the site was only available in English.

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December 7, 2021

7 December 2021

Problem extinguished

A man working at a French-language school board contacted us because he wanted to obtain the French version of the Fire Code (Regulation 213/07 of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act) in order to know the provisions that apply to school facilities.

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December 7, 2021

7 December 2021

Electrifying solution

We were contacted by a person living in a designated area of Eastern Ontario who requested the French version of an inspection report conducted by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA).

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November 29, 2021

29 November 2021

Call Waiting

A woman told us that she wanted to get physiotherapy care for her father.

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October 27, 2021

27 October 2021

Clinical error

A Francophone woman complained to us that a dermatology clinic at an eastern Ontario hospital did not provide services in French when she booked her appointment on the phone, at reception or during the medical examination.

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September 29, 2021

29 September 2021

Alerting all at once

The French Language Services Unit has received several complaints about the Amber alert system.

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August 24, 2021

24 August 2021

The right words

A Francophone education professional complained to us about the inadequate quality of French on some of the forms for the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), a school-to-work transition program offered in high schools across the province.

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May 26, 2021

26 May 2021

For service in French, dial OO

A Francophone student seeking information about scholarships via the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) contacted us when he discovered there was no option to select services in French in the automated phone system of the OSAP department he called.

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April 30, 2021

30 April 2021

Landing test

A woman returning from an overseas trip complained to us that she was not served in French during the COVID-19 test she was required to undergo at Toronto Pearson airport.

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March 30, 2021

30 March 2021

Better bilingual service for landlords and tenants

While the Ombudsman’s systemic investigation into delays at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is ongoing, we have resolved many individual complaints, including from landlords and tenants who had difficulty receiving services in French.

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February 25, 2021

25 February 2021

Easier to complete

A French-speaking member of the board of directors of a small housing co-op in northern Ontario sought our help when he had trouble completing an annual form from the Condominium Authority of Ontario (CAO).

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January 29, 2021

29 January 2021

Email fail

After requesting information from the Ministry of Health in French and receiving answers in English twice, a Francophone journalist complained to our Office.

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December 10, 2020

10 December 2020

2019-2020 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario

Commissioner's Message - Two watchdogs, one access point
On January 13, 2020, I officially took up my duties as French Language Services Commissioner, following a rigorous selection process conducted across the country by the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario.

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November 24, 2020

24 November 2020

You have the choice

Our French Language Services Unit received two complaints from people who called the general DriveTest phone line to book driving tests and were obligated to listen to a 90-second message in English only.

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September 29, 2020

29 September 2020

To be or not to be… in French

A woman in Thunder Bay decided to go to a local ServiceOntario to update her home address on her driver’s licence, after first checking the website to confirm the service location offered services in French.

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August 28, 2020

28 August 2020

A message in French will follow

With the current pandemic and the necessity to work from home, using conference call lines has become the norm in many organizations.

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July 31, 2020

31 July 2020

Fish story

When new signs were installed at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's Fish Culture Station in North Bay, some Francophone residents noticed something fishy - the signs were in English only.

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May 29, 2020

29 May 2020

Our opinion matters

An education worker complained to our French Language Services Unit about a unilingual English survey about technology that was being conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Education.

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March 27, 2020

27 March 2020

Failing the test

A man visited a London DriveTest centre with his son, who wanted to take the theory component of the road test, and requested services in French.

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January 31, 2020

31 January 2020

Hold, s’il vous plaît

A francophone man complained to our French Language Services Unit that he waited an hour on the phone for service in French when he called the disability eligibility decision unit of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.

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November 29, 2019

29 November 2019

Au revoir, not goodbye

A woman complained to our French Language Services Unit that the Superior Court in Toronto could not serve her in person in French, resulting in a wasted trip and frustration.

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October 31, 2019

31 October 2019

Website faux pas

A French-speaking woman sought our help after she encountered difficulties with the website of the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office.

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September 30, 2019

30 September 2019

Lacking language

A man who was following the complaints process regarding a bilingual community legal clinic reached out to us after receiving an English-only version of the clinic’s complaints policy.

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August 30, 2019

30 August 2019

The road to French services

We received a complaint from a man who had recently moved to Canada. Although his motorcycle licence was valid in his home country, he was required to re-take the test in Ontario. The man had been assigned an English-speaking examiner for his motorcycle road test, even though he requested a French-speaking examiner in advance at a designated DriveTest centre.

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