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The right to receive services in English

Mrs. Brown is an Anglophone. She has been followed by a neurologist for a few months in an institution that participates in the English-language access program, which means that not all services are offered in English.

Summary of the situation

Mrs. Brown missed her medical appointment because the secretary left a message in French on her answering machine. As she has difficulty understanding French, she did not understand the message of the reminder of her appointment. She decided to file a complaint at the Complaints and Service Quality Commissioner office with the accompaniment of the CAAP – Laval.

Analysis

After the complaint has been processed, Mrs. Brown receives an answer that satisfies her. Even though the hospital was unable to say that the message left by the appointment centre was in French, Mrs. Brown learned that all administrative agents at the hospital had completed the course of the program in English and could communicate with English-speaking patients.

Result

In order to ensure that this situation does not recur, the head of the appointments centre reminded administrative agents to leave a message in English when the message on the answering machine is in English. In addition, Mrs. Brown is reassured to know that even if the agents answers the phone directly in French, they can continue to communicate with her in English. She will therefore not hesitate to ask for it next time.

What is the right to receive services in english ?

While you have the right to request services in English, not all institutions have an obligation to do so.

Only institutions designated by the government are required to offer all of their services in English and French. In Laval, there is only one and that is the Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital.

In all other Laval institutions, even if a lot of effort is made to provide as many services as possible in English, only certain services are accessible in English according to the English-language access program. The same applies to access to documentation or the translation of documents into English.

Liens utiles

Prévention suicide:

Ligne d’intervention auprès des personnes suicidaires ou de leurs proches.

SOS Violence conjugale: 1 800 363-9010

Service d’accueil, d’évaluation, d’information, de sensibilisation, de soutien et de référence aux victimes de violence conjugale et leurs proches.

Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec : 1 888 528-7741

Les demandes d’accès au dossier médical ne font pas partie du mandat du CAAP – Laval.

Commission des droits de la personne: 1 800 361-6477

Si vous êtes victime d’exploitation ou si vous croyez qu’un proche en subit.

Le Barreau du Québec

Ligne agression sexuelle: 1 888 933-9007

Ligne d’écoute, d’information et de référence destinée aux victimes d’agression sexuelle et leurs proches.

DIRA Laval: 450 681-8813

Service d’accueil et d’accompagnement pour les personnes de 50 ans et plus victimes d’abus, de violence ou de négligence.

Ligne Aide Abus Aînés: 1 888 489-2287

Ligne d’aide destinée aux aînés qui subissent des abus ou à leurs proches.

Ministère de la Justice

Éducaloi