How to Make a Complaint to the Ombudsman

The Manitoba Ombudsman is an independent reviewing officer with broad investigative, auditing and reporting powers under FIPPA. You may complain to the Ombudsman for a number of reasons including if:

• you have not received a response to your application within 30 days
• you do not believe the extension of the response time beyond 30 days is appropriate
• you have been denied access to all or part of the records for which you applied
• your request for correction of your personal information has been refused;
• you believe your own personal information has been collected, used, or disclosed in violation of Part 3 of FIPPA which deals with the protection of privacy
• as a third party, you wish to contest a decision of a public body to give access to records against your wishes
• you are the relative of a deceased person who has been refused access to that deceased person’s personal information by a public body.

Generally, the complaint must be made within 60 days after being notified of the access decision.

A complaint must be made on the prescribed Complaint Form.

Send your complaint to:

Manitoba Ombudsman
300 - 5 Donald Street
Winnipeg MB R3L 2T4
Phone: 204-982-9130
Toll Free: 1-800-665-0531 (Manitoba)
Fax: 204-942-7803

The Ombudsman will investigate your complaint and may take steps to try to resolve it informally, to the satisfaction of the parties and in a manner consistent with the purposes of FIPPA. If the complaint cannot be resolved informally and is found to be supportable, the Ombudsman will make recommendations to the public body. Written notification of the Ombudsman’s findings and any recommendations to the public body will be sent to you, when the investigation is completed.

For further information about the powers of the Manitoba Ombudsman under FIPPA and the procedure for making a complaint, visit the site of the Office of the Ombudsman.