An ombudsman is an independent and impartial official who investigates complaints from the public about unfair treatment or maladministration by government bodies or public organizations, aiming to find fair solutions and promote accountability.

An ombudsman generally has strong powers of investigation and broad access to information but it cannot direct the organization it oversees to take a particular course of action. It can make recommendations to address any concerns it identifies.

The Commission was established in 2003 to function as an ombudsman for the WSIB to address issues of service delivery raised by workers, employers and service providers.

Our mission is to facilitate the fair, equitable and timely resolution of individual complaints and to identify complaint trends and recommend system-wide improvements to WSIB services.

The Fair Practices Commission’s Charter document sets out our mandate in full.

The Commission relies on four benchmarks to help decide if your complaint raises a fairness issue the Commission can look into:

• Delay
• Decision-making process
• Communication
• Behaviour

Further details on each is available here.

If you’re unsure whether your complaint falls within our mandate, just give us a call.

We cannot overturn decisions or order the WSIB to take a particular course of action.

We cannot assist you in seeking monetary compensation from the WSIB for poor service.

We also cannot help you if you are seeking to have WSIB staff disciplined.

We cannot review complaints about other organizations such as your employer or the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal.

Nothing. Our services are free of charge to complainants.

No. We generally review specific complaints about the service provided by the WSIB.

As a small office, we do not have the resources to conduct a review of someone’s claim and that would not be the typical role of an ombuds type office.

We can accept complaints from injured workers and their dependents, employers and WSIB service providers. We can also accept complaints from representatives of each of these categories.

Similar to most ombudsman offices, the Commission generally acts as an “office of last resort,” a place to turn when all other attempts at resolving your complaint have failed. In practice, this means that we usually ask complainants to first escalate complaints to a manager at the WSIB before we will intervene. You can find information on the WSIB’s escalation process here.

We can make exceptions to this process if a complaint is urgent or the complainant is particularly vulnerable or marginalized.

We generally only deal with complaints that have a current impact in terms of fairness.

Although there is no set time limit to submit a complaint, the passage of time usually makes it harder to fully investigate a matter as information or staff involved may no longer be available.

Our charter gives us the discretion not to accept a complaint based on several factors including timeliness.

No. Many people find it easiest to contact us using our online complaint form. However, you are also welcome to contact us by telephone at 1-866-258-4383

Yes. However, we will need to confirm your consent, either verbally or in writing, to speak with that person.

No, we can give you general advice or a referral if you prefer to remain anonymous. If you want specific help with your complaint, we will need your name and other identifying information such as your claim or firm registration number.

All communication with the Commission is confidential. The Commission will not share information about your complaint with anyone without your consent.

No. We are a neutral oversight body. We do not represent the complainant or the WSIB during the course of our review of a complaint. We cannot provide legal advice or assist with appeals.

We can only take complaints from WSIB employees if they are injured workers. We cannot address issues arising under a collective agreement or relating to human resources.

We aim to respond to all complaints within two business days. We will speak with you over the phone to gather further details about your complaint and we may review the applicable policies and the relevant information in your claim.

If you have a complaint that falls within our mandate that you have not been able to resolve with the WSIB, we usually make informal inquiries with WSIB management to gather their side of the story and try to facilitate a fair resolution.

Yes. As part of our review, we may access and review WSIB claim file information. We have ‘read only’ access to WSIB claims. When we access claims, WSIB Operations staff are not made aware.

We will not make inquiries about your complaint without obtaining your consent first.

We find it most efficient to discuss your concerns over the phone as this allows us to gather all of the necessary details and ask clarifying questions as needed. It also provides you with an opportunity to ask questions about our role and how we may be able to assist you. We can send a letter outlining our review of your complaint at the end of the process if you would like one.

We aim to respond to all complaints within two business days.

In cases where a referral to the WSIB is appropriate, our intake staff can usually refer you to the appropriate person when you first contact us. If your complaint is assigned to a Complaints Review Specialist for further review, they will carry out their review as quickly as possible and keep you updated on the progress throughout their review.

In 2024, on average, the Commission completed its review of a complaint within eight days.

Yes. The Commissioner has the discretion not to accept a complaint based on considerations such as the merits of timeliness of a complaint, and on a determination of whether the complaint falls within the Commission’s mandate.

We monitor complaint trends and statistics in an effort to proactively identify potential systemic problems.

However, we are always interested in hearing from you if are concerned about any problems that may have broader implications. We usually ask that you try to raise your concerns with the WSIB first to try to resolve them but we may also exercise discretion if there are compelling circumstances.

If you are unsure how to proceed, you’re welcome to call us to discuss further.

Commission staff are WSIB employees and we are funded by the WSIB. However, the Commission’s Charter, which is set by the WSIB’s Board of Directors, requires the Commission to operate at arm’s length from WSIB management and the Commission reports to the Board of Directors in order to preserve its independence.

There are also other safeguards in the Commission’s Charter to ensure its work is performed independently. For example, the Commission’s budget is approved by the Board of Directors and the Commissioner is responsible for managing the budget and recruiting and hiring staff.

Additionally, the WSIB is required under section 176.1 of the Workplace Safety and insurance Act to have an ombudsman whose mandate shall include investigating complaints and making recommendations.

Unfortunately, we do not offer in-person appointments. We would be happy to schedule a video meeting if you wish.

While we do not prohibit the use of AI, we ask you to be cognizant of the fact that we are a small office with limited resources so we may not be able to review extremely long AI-generated submissions.

We also find it more beneficial to speak with complainants over the phone so we can ask clarifying questions to ensure we fully understand their concerns and we can address any questions about our complaint resolution process.

First, you can discuss your concerns with the person who has carriage of your file. We are always open to considering new information even if your file has already been closed.

If you have a complaint about our service, please submit a complaint form and address it to management or call us at 1-866-258-4383 and ask to speak with a member of management.

If you remain dissatisfied after you have received a response from the Commissioner, you have the option of contacting the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman.