1.1 Establishment of the French ­language health planning entities

Planning Entities

When the Commissioner took office, he quickly began addressing the issue of French-language health services in the province. It was a timely subject because the Ontario government had decided in 2006 to decentralize the health system. Through the Local Health System Integration Act, 2006 (LHSIA), it established 14 Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs). But in creating the LHINs, the government did not include the Francophone component in the planning process
for health services at the local level.

To address this weakness, the Legislature decided to include French-language health planning entities under section 16(4) of the LHSIA. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care did not see things the same way and developed a draft regulation to establish advisory committees.

The result was that the province’s entire Francophone community felt excluded from the health services planning process and were certainly affected by the situation. The problem quickly led to the filing of more than 100 complaints with the Commissioner’s Office between 2007 and 2008, which in turn triggered the preparation of a special report.

In May 2009, the Commissioner published the Special Report on French Language Health Services Planning in Ontario,³ in which he made eight recommendations regarding the incorporation of Francophone structures into local health system planning and the establishment of actual planning entities, as specified in section 16(4) of the LHSIA.

Effectiveness of the intervention

The government responded favourably to the Commissioner’s recommendation that the regulation be amended to provide for French-language health planning entities. In December 2009, the government adopted Regulation 515/09 on engaging with the Francophone community regarding French-language health services.⁴ As a result, the Commissioner’s Office was able to resolve the 100 complaints about the controversial draft regulation.

Moreover, the Commissioner detected a genuine change of tone in the Ministry, which provided more than 1,500 employees with training on the importance of delivering services in French to Francophone clients the following year.

Subsequently, in 2011, the Ministry established six planning entities for various regions, in accordance with section 16(4) of the LHSIA. As a result of this accomplishment, the Francophone community could expect to participate fully in health system planning at the local level.

The Commissioner, like many other stakeholders, hoped that in the deliberations on Bill 41, Patients First Act, 2016, the entities’ role might evolve into a partnership with the LHINs in respect to planning French language services. Unfortunately, the bill was passed without amendments to that effect.

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has been open to the Commissioner’s idea of clarifying the matter through a regulation. Thus, through an amendment to Regulation 515/09, the entities role in the planning process would be further enhanced to reflect the collaborative nature of the LHIN-Entity relationship.

Recommendation 1

The Commissioner recommends that the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care amend Regulation 515/09 to grant French-language health planning entities an enhanced role in planning French-language health services, notably with regard to the integrated health service plans the LHINs are required to produce.

3. For more details, see https://csfontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/FLSC_report_french_health_planning_2009.pdf (page consulted in March 2017).

4. Ontario Regulation 515/09, Engagement with the Francophone Community under Section 16 of the Act.