The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) is interested in your comments on our Discussion Paper or Summary of Issues for Consultation for our project on Legal Capacity, Decision-making and Guardianship. We are hoping to hear from individuals and organizations who may be affected by the project, including policy-makers, community organizations, service-providers, experts, the legal community, health and social services professionals, and those who are directly affected by these laws, as well as their families and friends.

We hope that you can tell us about your own experiences in this area, including

  • your experiences with Ontario’s systems for assessing people’s capacity to make decisions independently;
  • your experiences with decision-making for persons who have been legally determined not to have capacity to make decision on their own, including experiences with powers of attorney and guardianships; and
  • your experiences with Ontario’s systems for identifying and addressing abuse of guardianships or powers of attorney, and for resolving disputes related to guardianships or powers of attorney.

We would also like to hear

  • what you think the goals of law reform in this area ought to be; and
  • your recommendations for making this area of the law more accessible, just and effective, including any comments you may have on the options identified in the Discussion Paper.

If you want more information about the Discussion Paper and Summary of Issues for Consultation, you can refer to our webpage.

We will protect the confidentiality of the information that you send us, in accordance with our Use of Information and Privacy and Confidentiality Policy.

You can share your comments by:

1. Sending us a written submission by mail, fax or email: We have included in our Discussion Paper and Summary of Issues for Consultation a list of questions that may help to guide your submission.

Law Commission of Ontario
Legal Capacity, Decision-making and Guardianship
2032 Ignat Kaneff Building, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Fax: (416) 650-8418
E-mail: LawCommission@lco-cdo.org

2. Responding to our questionnaires: The LCO is releasing two consultation questionnaires: one for persons directly affected by laws related to legal capacity, decision-making and guardianship, and one for families, friends, supporters and substitute decision-makers.  You may respond to the questionnaires by mail, online, or by telephone. To respond to by telephone, please call us at:

Toronto : (416) 650-8406
Toll-free : 1 (866) 950-8406
TTY :        (416) 650-8082

3. Contacting Project Head Lauren Bates through the contact information above.

This public consultation will be supplemented by targeted focus groups and other stakeholder events.

The deadline for feedback is Friday, October 17, 2014.