Ontario Trillium Foundation

Re: RE: Resilient Communities grant to Refugee Career Jumpstart Project — accessibility terms of the grant

Hello,

Your letter of 24 September 2026 rests on one sentence: the grant "was not intended to fund the delivery or oversight of direct services to participants." The page you sent as proof says the opposite.

Grant record 3265 on the Foundation's own website, DESCRIPTION field: the organization "will recover and build its resiliency from impacts of COVID-19 by hiring a Client Relations Lead and providing resources and technology for staff to adapt programming and services to meet the needs of community." GRANT RESULT field on the same page: "Adapt or add-new program and service delivery to meet the changing needs of the community because of COVID-19." POPULATION SERVED field: "Other racialized groups, People who are newcomers/refugees."

A Client Relations Lead is a post that exists to handle relations with clients. Service delivery is named twice by the Foundation. The population is named once, and I am in it.

Your letter then sets the test itself: "Should we identify any information that raises concerns regarding the use of OTF funding during the life of the grant, we will follow up directly with the organization as appropriate." Here is that information. On 6 December 2024 the grantee published that your grant let it "increase its accessibility by fully adapting all programming to be remote." The same release states that it "hired staff to engage 1,000+ clients through needs assessment and career readiness programming." That is the grantee's own account of how your money was spent during the life of the grant. In August 2026 the same organization wrote to me: "Without a phone number, unfortunately, we are unable to proceed with the process." A Senior Manager, Client Engagement answered my request for the policy behind it: "This is not a policy; this is a process that we have adopted since our inception in 2016."

Either the accessibility the grantee reported to the Foundation was delivered, or the Foundation was told something the money did not produce. The Foundation holds the document that settles it.

Produce the following.

1. The final report submitted by Jumpstart-Refugee Talent under grant 3265, and the Foundation's assessment of that report
2. The grant agreement for grant 3265, with every clause on accessibility, client service and non-discrimination
3. A statement of whether the Foundation's Anti-Discrimination and Accessibility policies bind the organizations it funds, and the document that says so
4. The name and title of the officer who certifies that a grant was used for its approved purpose

Answer by 8 October 2026.

Two further matters for the file. The Foundation's Customer Service Policy commits it to answer inquiries and complaints, written or verbal, within 2 business days. My letter was sent on 2 September 2026 and answered on 24 September 2026, on the 22nd day. The Foundation is an agency of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming. Your sentence that a grantee's accessibility practices fall outside the Foundation's role is now on the record with that Ministry and with the Ombudsman of Ontario.

Your letter and the grant record are published in full, as received and as captured, at http://dzyuban.com/legal/findings/otf-accessibility-grant-oversight/

Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban

Re: RE: RE: Resilient Communities grant to Refugee Career Jumpstart Project — accessibility terms of the grant

Hello,

The Foundation's letter of 25 September 2026 states a third ground in three letters.

On 24 September the Foundation stated that grant 3265 was not intended to fund the delivery or oversight of direct services to participants. The Foundation's own grant page for 3265 records the money as funding the hiring of a Client Relations Lead and work to adapt programming and services, the grant result as "Adapt or add-new program and service delivery", and the population served as "People who are newcomers/refugees".

On 25 September the Foundation stated that its role is to oversee compliance with approved grant requirements during the grant period, and that the grant concluded in November 2024. On 24 September the Foundation had written that, should it identify any information raising concerns regarding the use of OTF funding during the life of the grant, it would follow up directly with the organization. The information placed before the Foundation is from the life of the grant: the recipient's own public report of 6 December 2024, which states that the grant money went to increase its accessibility, and the recipient's final report for that period. The Foundation wrote that it reviewed the information and has nothing to add. The Foundation's own test was met and the Foundation did not apply it.

The sentence "we do not have any additional information to provide" is not a decision under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: no exemption is cited and no record is identified as non-existent. The Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario, it maintains a Privacy and Freedom of Information Coordinator, and its Access to Information Policy states that it provides the right of access to existing records in its custody or control.

A request under that Act went to [email] on 25 September 2026 for the four records the Foundation has declined to produce.

State by 8 October 2026 whether the Foundation holds the grant agreement for 3265 and the recipient's final report. State whether the letter of 25 September 2026 is a refusal to disclose records the Foundation holds, or a statement that the Foundation holds no such records. Name the officer who decided it.

This file sits with the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, with the members of the Standing Committee on Government Agencies, with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, and with the Ombudsman of Ontario. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario is next.

Respectfully,

Danilo Dzyuban
Ottawa, Ontario [postal code]

Freedom of Information request under FIPPA — grant 3265, Refugee Career Jumpstart Project

Hello,

This is a request for access to records under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, directed to the Privacy and Freedom of Information Coordinator.

The records concern Resilient Communities Fund grant 3265 to the Refugee Career Jumpstart Project. The Foundation's own grant page records that the money funded the hiring of a Client Relations Lead and work to adapt programming and services. It records the grant result as "Adapt or add-new program and service delivery" and the population served as "People who are newcomers/refugees".

Produce the following records, for the period 1 January 2022 to the present.

First, the grant agreement for grant 3265, with every schedule and every clause on service delivery, accessibility and non-discrimination.

Second, the final report filed by the grant recipient for grant 3265, and every assessment, review, sign-off or internal note the Foundation produced on that report.

Third, every record stating whether the Foundation's Anti-Discrimination Policy and Accessibility Policy bind the organizations it funds, and the date each took effect.

Fourth, the name and title of the officer who certified that funds under grant 3265 were spent for the purposes approved, and the record carrying that certification.

The Regional Director for the Toronto Region wrote on 25 September 2026 that the Foundation does not have any additional information to provide. That letter named no exemption and identified no missing record. The Foundation's Access to Information Policy states that the Foundation provides the right of access to existing records in its custody or control. This request goes to the statutory channel.

On the application fee, the Foundation publishes one instrument: cheque or money order, by paper mail. Section 24(1)(c) of the Act and section 5.2 of Regulation 460 set the amount, and neither prescribes the instrument. Confirm which method the Foundation accepts that requires no chequing account, including electronic transfer, credit card, or payment at the Foundation's office. Identify the record restricting payment to cheque or money order, the date it took effect, and the officer who approved it.

Answer by 26 October 2026, confirming receipt and the date on which the period under section 26 of the Act begins. State which of the four items the Foundation will produce and which it refuses, with the exemption cited for each refusal.

A refusal or a deemed refusal goes to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario under section 50 of the Act, with the record of this exchange. A payment condition that keeps these records out of reach goes there with it.

Respectfully,

Danilo Dzyuban
Ottawa, Ontario [postal code]

For the Chair of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer — grant 3265 and the Foundation's position of 25 September 2026

Hello,

This is addressed to Bob Chant, Chair of the Board of Directors, and to the Chief Executive Officer. The Foundation publishes no individual mailbox for either office, so it goes to the Foundation's general address for delivery to both.

The subject is Resilient Communities Fund grant 3265 to the Refugee Career Jumpstart Project, and what the Foundation has put in writing about it in the past 4 days.

The grant recipient restricts access to its services to people who provide a telephone number. It states in writing that no written policy setting that condition exists, that the refusal was confirmed by senior management, and that all of its services are provided remotely. The Foundation's grant page for 3265 records the money as funding the hiring of a Client Relations Lead and work to adapt programming and services, the grant result as "Adapt or add-new program and service delivery", and the population served as "People who are newcomers/refugees". The recipient's own public report of 6 December 2024 states that the grant money went to increase its accessibility.

The Foundation's Regional Director for the Toronto Region has now given 3 grounds in 3 letters. On 2 September the Foundation did not answer for 22 days, against the 2 business days in the Foundation's own Customer Service Policy. On 24 September the Foundation stated that the grant was not intended to fund the delivery or oversight of direct services to participants. On 25 September the Foundation stated that its oversight runs only during the grant period and that the grant concluded in November 2024, while the material placed before it is from the life of the grant.

On 25 September the Foundation also wrote that it does not have any additional information to provide. No exemption was cited and no record was identified as non-existent. The Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario, it maintains a Privacy and Freedom of Information Coordinator, and its Access to Information Policy states that it provides the right of access to existing records in its custody or control. A request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act went to the Coordinator on 25 September 2026 for the grant agreement, the recipient's final report, the Foundation's records on whether its Anti-Discrimination Policy and Accessibility Policy bind the organizations it funds, and the certification of purpose-bound spending.

The Foundation accepts the statutory application fee in one form only: cheque or money order, sent by paper mail. Section 24(1)(c) of the Act and section 5.2 of Regulation 460 fix the amount and prescribe no instrument. The Foundation therefore requires a bank instrument as the condition of access to a statutory right, while the organization it funded requires a telephone as the condition of access to a service that public money adapted.

Confirm by 8 October 2026 whether the Board adopts the position stated by the Regional Director on 24 and 25 September 2026. Produce the record in which the Foundation restricted payment of the application fee to cheque or money order, the date it took effect, and the name and title of the officer who approved it. Produce the four records named above.

The Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, the members of the Standing Committee on Government Agencies, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming and the Ombudsman of Ontario hold this file. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario is next.

Respectfully,

Danilo Dzyuban
Ottawa, Ontario [postal code]