Health Services Appeal and Review Board
The HSARB process allows for and encourages mediation, so it may be possible to
resolve most matters without a hearing or formal decision being required. The mediation
process can help achieve results that did not seem possible earlier. If mediation does
not produce the desired result, bringing a dispute to a hearing before HSARB is
possible.
The key problem is the limited jurisdiction of HSARB. A large number of complaints
about attendant services relate to the quality or nature of the service provided or
violations of the Home Care Bill of Rights. HSARB lacks the jurisdiction to hear appeals
about either of these,^49 so many important issues raised by clients cannot be brought
before HSARB. For more detail on HSARB and its processes see Appendix 2 to this
paper.
Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
If the issue in question relates more to a failure to accommodate a disability, rather than
hours or quantity of services, it may be possible to file an application with the Human
Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The recent Barber 50 case makes it clear that it is not
discrimination when a government program does not offer individualized services
catered to the specific medical needs of a particular individual. Nevertheless, if a person
requires accommodation of a disability to allow them to access attendant services, and
that accommodation is denied, or services are cut as a result, then discrimination may
have occurred.^51
(^49) See sections 39 and 40 of the Home Care and Community Services Act, 1994, S.O. 1994, c. 26.
(^50) Barber v. South East Community Case Access Centre 2013 HRTO 60 (Canlii).
(^51) For more detail on filing an application before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario see
http://www.hrto.ca/hrto/.