Letter from the Provincial Advocate for Children. Mar. 13, 2019
Progressive Conservative government announced as part of its Fall Economic Outlook that they would be repealing the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth Act, 2007, and transferring investigation authority into child welfare services, residential care (including youth justice) and children’s secure treatment to the Ombudsman’s Office.

30% of child welfare caseload in Ontario is Indigenous despite comprising only 4.1% of the population. Many of the provisions in the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, 2007, will not be carried over to the Ombudsman’s Office.

These include, but are not limited to:

• broadening the Ombudsman’s investigation mandate to include all children and youth currently served within our mandate;
• the power to investigate or be notified of incidents of serious occurrences, such as when a young person dies or suffers serious bodily harm; and
• the responsibility to provide rights education to children and youth seeking or receiving services.