211Ontario.ca

211 Launched in Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay – The Lakehead Social Planning Council (LSPC) and its partners unveiled the 211 Ontario North call centre on February 11, 2008, made possible through funding from The United Way of Thunder Bay, Fednor, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, the Ministry of Community and Social Services, The Thunder Bay District Social Service Administration Board, the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) and the Paterson Foundation.

Among the guest speakers at the ribbon cutting ceremony were Minister of Northern Development and Mines, Michael Gravelle, Thunder Bay–Atikokan MPP, Bill Mauro, Thunder Bay District Social Service Administration Board President, Iain Angus, United Way of Canada - Manager of 211 Ontario Initiative, Bill Morris and OTF local Board Member, Donna Gilhooly.

Read Media Release >> 

Report on Francophone community consultations

Francophone consultations in Ontario resulted from the need to deepen and expand the general conclusions from initial 211Ontario.ca consultations that took place from November 2006 to January 2007. Meeting the needs of Francophone communities is a critical success factor for 211Ontario.ca, and proponents are committed to improving access to human services information for Francophones in Ontario in close consultation with Francophones, and in collaboration and partnership with French-language service providers.

The Report reflects the findings from the Francophone community consultations. The 211Ontario.ca project team welcomes you to share your remarks by contacting Kathy Kelly, 211Ontario.ca Project manager (kakelly@findhelp.ca), or by posting a comment on the project weblog.

Download the Report on Francophone community consultations
- in English >>
- Bilingual >>

Notes from Editors' session

Notes taken at the Editors' session on Monday, March 26. If you have comments or questions, please contact John Allec.

Download taxonomy_editors_standards_march26.doc

Editorial Collaboration

Monday, March 26 afternoon session, "Editorial Collaboration" Download datacollaboration200703_v4_jon.ppt

Data Partnerships Notes for Review

Participants in Data Partnership sessions (Monday, March 26 afternoon, and Tuesday, March 27, morning) – preliminary notes are posted for your feedback by Thursday, March 29, 5 pm.

Download 211ontario.ca - Sustainable Data Partnerships 03 2007-2.doc

Please send comments, feedback and suggestions to Cheryl May.

InformOntario Naming Standards

Download Standards >>

Working documents : Ontario Starter Taxonomy

Ontario Starter Taxonomy sample (Section One : Basic Needs)

Ontario Starter Taxonomy (Section One : Basic Needs) : complete document

• Food
• Housing/Shelter
• Material Goods
• Temporary Financial Assistance
• Transportation

Report on Community Consultation

The 211Ontario.ca project team recognized that as an information management/information technology project with a provincial focus, thorough and accurate requirements would be critical to the success of the resource and its broad utilization in the future. Intensive consultation was identified as the optimal way to compile requirements for a large, diverse population with potentially different information needs and information seeking behaviour. The project team dedicated themselves to developing and implementing a rigorous schedule of face-to-face meetings throughout Ontario, choosing to travel as facilitation teams in order to reduce the potential for participant travel barriers and increasing opportunities for community engagement.

The community consultations discussed in this report took place throughout Ontario from July 2006 to January 2007. More Francophone consultations are scheduled in the course of spring 2007, and a distinct report will be produced to reflect the specific situation and needs of the Francophone communities.

Report on Community Consultations >>

Taxonomy RFP Results

The Project Management Office of 211Ontario.ca is pleased to announce that all current Ontario data partner agencies, plus eight additional agencies, will be receiving funding to support their Taxonomy conversion as per the AIRS Taxonomy RFP Process. This funding will be provided through the Ministry of Finance's 211Ontario.ca Strengthening Our Partnerships project

211Ontario.ca Training and Partnership Conference

Travel Expenses Claim form

Download travel_claim_form.xls

Monday, March 26 and Tuesday March 27, 2007

LOCATIONS:

Monday morning:

Findhelp Information Services, 543 Richmond Street, Suite 125

Google Map

Travelodge Toronto Downtown, 621 King Street West

Map to Travelodge

Please note the location for each session in the agenda.

AGENDA:

Download training_and_partnership_agenda.pdf

The conference is dedicated to two important aspects of the project in 2007/2008

Partnerships: Set the course for our data partnerships; determine how tools and resources will align with the 211 telephone initiative; and establish how the information and referral database and reporting information will be developed for customized needs and partnerships.
Taxonomy: Discuss the impact of the Taxonomy on organizations; identify conversion dates and issues; review the proposed training program; and in a concurrent session, regional trainers will be trained.

Stephen Davies of Chartwell will facilitate the sessions and develop a conference report.

To register for the conference, get more information or book your stay contact Ruth Ahlgren, rahlgren@findhelp.ca, 416-392-4575.

Download travel_claim_form.xls