Pledge

The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) endeavors to provide accessible quality services. Service will be provided with courtesy, integrity, respect, and fairness, acting in the best interest of the incapable person.

Performance Objectives

a) Responding to allegations of serious harm

The OPGT helps to protect mentally incapable adults who are suffering, or at risk of suffering serious harm. Severe self-neglect, physical abuse and financial exploitation of incapable people are some of the problems that this service can, in certain circumstances, help to resolve.

Anyone may contact the Investigations Unit of the OPGT to report that they believe that a mentally incapable adult is at serious risk of harm. The telephone number is 416-327-6348 or toll-free at 1-800-366-0335. TTY: 416-314-2687.
The address is:
Guardianship Investigations Unit
Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee
595 Bay Street, Suite 800
Toronto ON M5G 2M6

Once a report is received, the Investigations Unit will respond by trying to contact the person who made the report to gather more information. This first step will help to determine whether the OPGT will initiate an investigation for the purpose of deciding whether the Office should apply to court for an order of guardianship.

Our goal, in most cases, is to make contact with a person who makes a report within one business day from the time the report is received by the Investigations Unit.

b) Responding to requests to make substitute health care decisions

The OPGT is responsible for making health care decisions for persons who are unable to make those decisions for themselves as a result of mental incapacity. When our Office receives a request for such a decision from a health care professional, it is our goal to contact the health care professional within 24 hours.

Health practitioners may contact the Treatment Decisions Unit in the applicable area of the province, as noted below. The program operates from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday, and 8:45 am to 1:30 pm on weekends and holidays.

Greater Toronto
Tel: 416-314-2788
Toll-free: 1-800-387-2127
TTY: 416-314-2687
Fax: 416-314-2637

Hamilton Region
Tel: 905-546-8300
Toll-free: 1-800-891-0502
Fax: 905-546-8301

London Region
Tel: 519-660-3140
Toll-free: 1-800-891-0504
Fax: 519-660-3148

Ottawa Region and Northern Ontario
Tel: 613-241-1202
Toll-free: 1-800-891-0506
Fax: 613-241-1567

Performance Results 2010-11

In 2010-11 the following performance was achieved:

• 99% of the time, contact was made with a person who reported an allegation of serious harm, within one business day from the time the report was received by the Investigations Unit, against a target of 95%. In 2011-12, the target will be 99%.
• 99% of the time, contact was made with a health care professional within 24 hours of receiving a request to make substitute health care decisions, against a target of 97%. In 2011-12, the target will be 99%.

OPGT Complaint and Redress Process

The OPGT is committed to providing accessible and timely service. We welcome feedback about meeting our standards.

Method of Providing Feedback

Feedback may be provided in person, at any one of the OPGT's local offices, by telephone, or in writing. Contact information is contained below.

Review Process

All feedback is reviewed by an OPGT staff member. If the feedback constitutes a complaint about the service standards, an attempt will be made to respond immediately. If the complainant is not satisfied with the response, the complaint will be forwarded to the manager of the applicable OPGT business unit to review and respond within ten business days using the same means of communication that was used to provide the feedback. All reasonable efforts will be made to resolve the complaint.

Feedback is used to facilitate continuous improvement in the way we provide service.

Contact Information:

Greater Toronto
595 Bay Street, Suite #800
Toronto, ON M5G 2M6
Tel: 416-314-2800
Toll-free: 1-800-366-0335
TTY: 416-314-2687
Fax: 416-327-0366

Hamilton Region
119 King Street West, 9th Floor
Hamilton, ON L8P 4Y7
Tel: 905-546-8300
Toll-free: 1-800-891-0502
Fax: 905-546-8301

London Region
199 Dundas Street,
1st Floor, Suite 100
London, ON N6A 1G4
Tel: 519-660-3140
Toll-free: 1-800-891-0504
Fax: 519-660-3148

Ottawa Region
351 Preston Street, Suite 200
Ottawa, ON K1S 2E6
Tel: 613-241-1202
Toll-free: 1-800-891-0506
Fax: 613-241-1567

Sudbury Region
199 Larch Street, Suite 602
Sudbury, ON P3E 5P9
Tel: (705) 564-3185
Toll-free: 1-800-891-0503
Fax: (705) 564-3193

Thunder Bay Region
189 Red River Road, Suite 101
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 1A2
Tel: (807) 343-7230
Fax: (807) 343-7223

The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee is authorized under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, sections 38(2) and 41(1)(b), to collect and use the information provided in your complaint about the Public Guardian and Trustee's programs and services. We do this to make sure we are providing the best customer service possible. Some of the information which you provide may be your personal information. We will use this information only to review, investigate and respond to your complaint. We care about protecting your privacy. If you have any questions about the complaint process, please contact:

Program Coordinator, Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee
595 Bay Street, 8th Floor
Toronto, ON M5G 2M6
Telephone: 416-314-2761
Fax: 416-326-1366