Write a letter asking OW for an internal review

Who can use this tool

If you don’t agree with a decision from Ontario Works (OW) and want them to change it, you must ask OW for an “internal review”.

This tool creates a letter you can send to OW to ask for an internal review.

Steps to Justice has more information about internal reviews.

How the tool works

To use this tool, you’ll need:

the decision letter you got from OW
an email address

After you answer a series of questions, you’ll get an email with the letter for OW.

You can forward the email to your OW worker or the worker you met with when you applied. You can also copy and paste the words into another program to make changes or create a letter to send in the mail.

CLEO does not store your personal information.

General information

Items with a * must be completed.

Today’s date *

Date you got your decision letter *

Date printed at the top of your decision letter *

Your information

My name is *

First

Last

My address

Address line 1

Address line 2

Town/city

Province

Postal code

My telephone

Email *

Email

Confirm Email

OW file number (See top right-hand corner of your decision letter. Example below.) *

My signature (see instructions below)

Adding your signature

You can add your signature now or when you get the email with your letter. If you wait, you'll have to print off and sign your letter before sending it.

You can sign using your mouse if you're on your computer. You can sign with your finger if you’re using a touch screen device like a phone or tablet.

If you want to re-do your signature, click on the X in the top-right corner of the box.

Ontario Works office

The address of your OW office is on your decision letter, under the address for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.

Click on the sample letter below to see where to find the address.

If you can’t find the address in your letter, you can use this online tool to find your local OW office: http://www.officelocator.mcss.gov.on.ca/

To use the address tool:

enter your postal code and click “Search”
look in the Program column to find your OW program, which will say “(OW)” after the program name
look in the Address column next to the OW program for the the mailing address
use that mailing address to fill in the fields below

Ontario Works office address *

Address line 1

Address line 2

Town/city

Province

Postal code

Reasons for internal review

It can help to say why you don’t agree with the decision. But you don’t have to do this. And if you do, you don't have to give a lot of details. It’s more important to send your request in by the deadline. There’s information about the deadline in the next section.

If you have new information or documents that help show why the decision is wrong, you can include these when you send your request for an internal review.

Here are some reasons you might not agree:

I have new information that was not available when OW made their decision.
The decision got some important facts about my situation wrong.
The decision did not consider facts that are important.
The decision goes against an OW policy.

If you want to give a reason, enter it here:

If you missed the deadline

The deadline to ask for an internal review depends on whether you got the Notice of Decision letter in the mail or if someone gave it to you in person.

If an OW worker gave you the letter in person, the deadline is 30 days after the day you got the letter.

If OW mailed the letter to you, the deadline is 33 days after the “mailing date” that Canada Post stamps on the envelope.

If your deadline has not passed, leave this section blank.

If you missed your deadline, fill out this section. If OW does not accept your reason for missing the deadline, you can contact your local community legal clinic.

If you can show that you have a good reason for missing the deadline, you might still get an internal review.

Here are some examples of good reasons for missing the deadline:

I was in the hospital or in jail.
I contacted a lawyer or legal clinic and was waiting to get legal advice from them.
I have problems with reading or writing.
OW mailed its decision and it took longer than 3 days to reach me.

If you missed the deadline, explain why:

Get the internal review letter

That’s all of the information you have to enter. When you click “Submit”, we’ll send you the email message with the contents of your letter.

You can then forward the email to your OW worker or copy the information into a letter that you send by mail. Make sure to keep a copy for yourself.

If you don’t see the message in your inbox, check your junk or spam folder.