Quebec's ombudsman opens investigation into long wait times for death certificates

Quebec's ombudsman isinvestigating delays in issuing death certificates in the province following a high number of complaints, the office confirmed Thursday.

In a story published last week, CBC Newsfound delays continued to get worse months after the government promised to improve wait times.

Last spring, it took on average more than 40 working days to register a death in Quebec. That's for applications that were not missing any information. Once the death is registered, a certificate is typically issued within a week.

The delay increased to 52 working days by the end ofMay, and then as of Aug.4, the average time jumped to 55.85 working days, according to the most recent statistics available from the Employment Ministry.

The ministry oversees the civil status registrar, the agency responsible for registering births, marriages and deaths.

'There's no explanation'

CBCNews has spoken with families who have been stuck waiting for the certificate for up to seven months.

mong them was Lynda Baker-Thorslund, whose father died in December. She finally receivedhis death certificate on Wednesday.

"It really slows things down at a time when you'retrying to wrap things up, and it's emotional," she told CBCNews on Thursday. "Seven months seems like a very long time to get a certificate."

Her father, who lived in Montreal his entire life,was married to Baker-Thorslund's mother for 63 years. As she helped arrange her father's finances for her mother,some banks accepted the funeral home's death certificate, but others wouldn't.

"If I was the executor for the estate, maybe you have a property to sell or something, it's quite the delay and there's no explanation as to why," she said. "I just wonder how much research they have to do in order to issue a death certificate."

In a letter sent to families, obtained by Radio-Canada,the ombudsman's office said it hopes to intervene to help find solutions to the issue.

In a phone interview, Joseph Simoneau,director of communications for theoffice, said the investigation will include an analysis of all the complaints.

He said recommendations to solve the issuewill be conveyed directly to the departments responsible, but he could not say whether a reportwould be made public.

Simoneaucould not confirm how many complaints are being investigated but saidothers who have been affected by the delays are welcome to file one.

He saidall families who contacted the ombudsman's office will be notified by letter when the situation is resolved.

Action being taken, ministry says

Catherine Poulin, spokesperson for theEmployment Ministry,said in anemail thatprocessing a death file is much more complex than other life event files, such as births, marriages and civil unions.

"All information relating to past life events of a deceased person, whether they took place in Quebec or outside Quebec, must be corroborated with the information declared," said Poulin, adding the verification process must beexhaustiveto ensure accuracy.

"This being said, the ministry is aware of the repercussions of these delays for families and is doing everything possible to restore the situation.Concrete actions are being put in place to reduce delays."

She said employees were hired and trained and they are now on the job, though she didn't specify how many.

She said the ministry is confident that new resources, combined with systemic improvements and the automation of certain processes, will help to reduce delays in the coming months.