5. Make a complaint
Question & Answer
What services can I get from Legal Aid Ontario in French?If you don’t get services in French from Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), or their French services were not good enough, you can file a complaint with the Ontario Ombudsman French Language Services Unit. You can complain about:
- a service that did not meet your needs
- a service that does not exist
The Ombudsman’s job is to make sure the French Language Services Act is followed. This includes making sure that:
- the rights of people who live in Ontario are respected
- LAO provides the French services they are supposed to provide
If you have questions or want the Ombudsman to find out more about a situation, call 1-866-246-5262 or 416-847-1515.
You can make a complaint to the Ombudsman by phone or by completing a Complaint form online. All complaints are confidential.
In your complaint, include details like:
- your name
- your phone number
- your mailing address
- your email address
- a brief description of the incident or situation, with the date, time, and location
Staff at the Ombudsman’s office will contact you if they need more information. If your issue is one they can help with, they will first try to resolve your complaint by talking to the people involved. Most complaints are resolved this way within 2 weeks. If your complaint can’t be resolved, the Ombudsman may start an investigation.
The Ombudsman doesn’t have the power to order LAO to do anything. But they can write a report that says what their investigation found and suggest ways to improve services.
They will tell you what happens with your case. The Ombudsman also publishes the results of their investigations in Annual Reports.