Skip to content Leave Site Now

COVID-19 updates
We’ve temporarily changed some of our services.

Legal Aid Ontario is moving!
Starting April 17, 2023, Legal Aid Ontario’s Provincial Office, Toronto Family Law Services Office, Criminal Senior Counsel Services Office, and Refugee Law Office will be located on the seventh floor of the Atrium on Bay.

X
Legal Aid Ontario
  • Services
    • Temporary service changes due to COVID-19
    • COVID-19 and the courts: Answers to frequently asked questions
    • Our services
    • Criminal legal issues
    • Domestic violence
    • Family legal issues
    • Mental health legal issues
    • Refugee and immigration legal issues
    • Legal clinics
    • How to apply
    • Find a lawyer
      • Finding the right legal aid lawyer
    • What do you think about our services?
    • Languages
  • For legal professionals
    • COVID-19: Ongoing list of supports for lawyers
    • LASA 2020 process updates for lawyers
    • Changes to policies and certificate coverage
    • Roster resources
      • Audit & Compliance
      • Billing
      • Case management
      • Forms library
      • Legal Aid Services Act, 2020 policies
      • Legal Aid Online
      • LAO LAW
      • Minimum experience requirements
      • More resources
    • Do legal aid work
    • Mentoring
    • Test case funding
    • News for lawyers
    • B3 Newsletters
    • Contacts for lawyers
  • Corporate
    • About
      • By-laws
      • Our clients
      • Board of Directors
      • Executive Team
      • Board Advisory Committees
      • Sidney B. Linden Award
      • French Language Services
    • Legal Aid Services Act, 2020
      • LASA 2020 Rules and Policies
      • LASA 2020 glossary
    • Consultations
    • LAO Consultation Registry
    • Open Government
    • Reports
    • Publications
    • News
    • Social media
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • FAQ
Français LAO Client Portal
Français LAO Client Portal
  • Services
    • Temporary service changes due to COVID-19
    • COVID-19 and the courts: Answers to frequently asked questions
    • Our services
    • Criminal legal issues
    • Domestic violence
    • Family legal issues
    • Mental health legal issues
    • Refugee and immigration legal issues
    • Legal clinics
    • How to apply
    • Find a lawyer
      • Finding the right legal aid lawyer
    • What do you think about our services?
    • Languages
  • For legal professionals
    • COVID-19: Ongoing list of supports for lawyers
    • LASA 2020 process updates for lawyers
    • Changes to policies and certificate coverage
    • Roster resources
      • Audit & Compliance
      • Billing
      • Case management
      • Forms library
      • Legal Aid Services Act, 2020 policies
      • Legal Aid Online
      • LAO LAW
      • Minimum experience requirements
      • More resources
    • Do legal aid work
    • Mentoring
    • Test case funding
    • News for lawyers
    • B3 Newsletters
    • Contacts for lawyers
  • Corporate
    • About
      • By-laws
      • Our clients
      • Board of Directors
      • Executive Team
      • Board Advisory Committees
      • Sidney B. Linden Award
      • French Language Services
    • Legal Aid Services Act, 2020
      • LASA 2020 Rules and Policies
      • LASA 2020 glossary
    • Consultations
    • LAO Consultation Registry
    • Open Government
    • Reports
    • Publications
    • News
    • Social media
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • FAQ

Annual report summary Ontario Ombudsman 2021-22

Published: October 13, 2022

The following summary contains information pertaining to Legal Aid Ontario in the annual report from the Ontario Ombudsman. The original report was released on August 10, 2022.

Background

The Ontario Ombudsman was established in 1975. They are an Office of the Legislature, independent of the government and political parties and assist Ontarians in resolving complaints and identifying systemic issues within provincial government services and administration.

The Ontario Ombudsman oversees more than 1,000 public sector bodies, comprising more than 500 Ontario government ministries, programs, agencies, boards, commissions, corporations and tribunals, as well as municipalities, school boards, school authorities, universities and Children’s Aid Societies. The Office has recently added two former offices of the Legislature, the French Language Services Commissioner and the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth.

The Complaints department, acting as the liaison between LAO and the Office of the Ombudsman, receives inquiries from the Ombudsman’s Early Resolution Officers on behalf of members of the public. Many of the inquiries received by the Ombudsman’s Office are questions that can be answered by frontline Ombudsman staff and do not require any assistance from LAO.

Details

For the 2021-22 fiscal year, it should be noted that inquiries pertaining to LAO accounted for only 0.3% of all cases received by the Ombudsman (76 out of 25,161 cases).

Complaints against LAO and clinics constituted 5% of all complaints against agencies reporting to the Ministry of the Attorney General (MAG) even though LAO represents a significant amount of the agency funding allocated to MAG. There were 1,567 complaints pertaining to MAG and it’s agencies with 65 of those inquiries pertaining to LAO and 11 pertaining to Legal Aid clinics.

LAO was not among the top-10 provincial government organizations and programs complained about to the Ontario Ombudsman during 2021-22.

There were no case studies in the annual report pertaining to LAO.

Conclusion

We will continue to enhance our relationship with the Ontario Ombudsman and use inquiries to identify possible gaps in our policies and procedures.

  • This form is feedback only.
Go back to top

Site footer

Sign-up for email alerts about upcoming consultations.

Need legal help?

Call us toll free at 1‑800‑668‑8258 Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST) for help in over 300 languages.

Current wait time: The CLSC is currently closed.

Wait times: Monday is our busiest day. For faster service, try calling Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Legal Aid Ontario is a safe and respectful space for our clients and employees. Verbal or threats of physical abuse will not be tolerated. Abusive behaviour may result in refusal of service.

Links

  • Freedom of information requests
    • Privacy policy
  • Accessibility policy
  • What do you think about our services?
    • Contact us
  • Sitemap

Legal Aid Ontario on social media

  • Social
    • Facebook
    • Intagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
Legal Aid Ontario

Legal Aid Ontario land acknowledgement

Land acknowledgement: Legal Aid Ontario recognizes that its work, and the work of its community partners take place on traditional Indigenous territories across the province.

Legal Aid Ontario copyright information

Legal Aid Ontario © 2023