Something came up recently that just didn't sit right with me, and our voices are needed to make a change.

Currently, your Healthcard, Drivers License, etc can be renewed online. Service Ontario is seriously behind in mailing out the renewal forms and because of Covid and they're putting off renewing being a high priority until February 28, 2022. That's all fine and well...however...in order to renew online you need a Drivers License. Well that doesn't help me, or anyone else with visual, physical, psychological or emotional disabilities that prevents us from getting a license. We can't renew our cards online without one so, we either need to go in person, or get a medical exemption form filled out by a Dr or Nurse, and send someone else to go for us and bring in our paperwork. Of course, this only works if your pic is 10 years old or less, and you don't need a new one. (And a few other situations.)

I've contacted Service Ontario and apparently this is a new project Ontario is trying out. There's room for change and they encourage it. In my personal situation, I'm recovering from major back surgery. My Healthcard expired in February of this year but, because of Covid I didn't notice as I almost never go to the hospital. However, in August I needed to. Everything was fine, no issues. I wound up back in for major back surgery in October that was when I noticed it had expired. I still had no issues recieving care, but when I looked up if it was possible to renew it online, that's when this all came to light. Due to it being major back surgery recovery is longer, and my back won't be fully healed enough for long outings for another 5-6 months. I can book an appointment to get through the line quicker but again, that still requires me being up and mobile for longer than my body will allow right now, and needing to ask someone to take time out of their day to drive me. For a Government establishment to boast how, accessible they are, to overlook how inaccessible their system actually is, is scary. Something needs to change so this new renewal system works for everyone, especially the disabled community, who are the main group who would better benefit from an online renewal system. 

You can also email them through their accessibility email, to have your voices double heard. 

We need to look out for each other. Make your voices heard.