Chapter 3
A Statistical Story
Geographic distribution of complaints
The geographic origin of complaints received in 2012-2013 reflects fairly well the geographic distribution of Francophones in Ontario 39. Central, Eastern, and Northeastern Ontario — regions with large concentrations of Francophones — had the highest volumes of complaints to the Commissioner’s Office, as shown in Table 6.
The table also shows that almost 41% of all complaints came from Eastern Ontario, closely followed by Central Ontario with 39% of total complaints. Nearly 12% of complaints originated in Northeastern Ontario. Together, Central and Eastern Ontario account for 80% of complaints received in 2012-2013.
| Table 6 | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution of complaints, 2012-2013 | |
| Region | % |
| Eastern Ontario | 41 |
| Central Ontario | 39 |
| Northeastern Ontario | 12 |
| Southwestern Ontario | 6 |
| Northwestern Ontario | 1 |
| Out-of-province | 1 |
| Total | 100 |
Finally, it is important to note that obtaining an accurate picture of the geographic origins of complaints is a complex undertaking because residents are highly mobile today and government services are provided in various forms made possible by new communications technologies. A person from Chapleau, for instance, may want to complain about the poor quality of French-language services in the North Bay area or unsatisfactory telephone service provided by an employee located in London. However, this table is based exclusively on the complainants’ place of residence, a criterion that measures the Francophone community’s awareness of the Commissioner’s Office.
39 According to the profile of the Francophone community published by the Office of Francophone Affairs in May 2013, the distribution of the Francophone population varies by region: almost two thirds of the province’s Francophones live in Eastern and Northeastern Ontario (42.2% in Eastern Ontario and 20.8% in Northeastern Ontario). Three out of ten Francophones (30%) live in Central Ontario, and nearly a third of that group is concentrated in Toronto. Southwestern Ontario and Northwestern Ontario account for nearly 5.7% and 1.2% of the Francophone population respectively.