In addition to the oversight of governmental bodies, the office is also responsible for the intake of public complaints which indicate the possibility of maladministration within the Government of Ontario and in the appropriate cases conducts an investigation.
All Canadian provinces, with the exception of Prince Edward Island, have a provincial ombudsman (known as Protecteur/protectrice du citoyen in Quebec and Citizens' Representative in Newfoundland and Labrador).
In March 1975, Ontario became the seventh province to establish an ombudsman's office, preceded by Alberta and New Brunswick (1967), Quebec (1968), Manitoba and Nova Scotia (1970), and Saskatchewan (1972).
In December 2014, the provincial legislature passed Bill 8, the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, expanding the office's jurisdiction by granting it the ability to oversee three of the four areas of the "M.U.S.H."
The ombudsman may report his or her findings from investigations publicly if it is found that a "decision, recommendation, act or omission" made by a government body under the office's jurisdiction was contrary to law.