Referring Someone to the Right Place to Complain

Tina was having a problem with Canada Post. She tried contacting them directly to resolve the issue, but she got no response. Frustrated and feeling like she had hit a dead end, Tina contacted Ombudsman Toronto to file a complaint.

Since we oversee City organizations and Canada Post is a federal corporation, holding it accountable falls outside of our legal scope. But instead of simply telling Tina that we had no jurisdiction over her complaint and wishing her luck, we suggested that she contact the federal Ministry of Public Services and Procurement to raise her concerns, and we gave her the necessary contact information.

Tina thanked us for the referral, saying that the information helped her feel like she was no longer at a dead end.

Why This Matters: When people contact us, they’re often frustrated after having already spent a long time trying to resolve their issue. If we can’t help because the complaint is outside our jurisdiction, we will always do our best to point complainants in the right direction to have their issue resolved.

All names are changed to protect the privacy of complainants.