Hi everyone,

This is my second month paying a Hydro Ottawa bill, and I’m honestly struggling to understand how the delivery charge is calculated. I’m trying to use as little electricity as possible, but my bill still feels surprisingly expensive, and I’m starting to feel a bit helpless.

Here’s a breakdown of my latest bill for August 1–25 (24 days):

• Total electricity consumption: 185.83 kWh
• Electricity charges: Approximately $20.21
• Delivery charges: $36.51
• Regulatory charges: $1.23
• HST: $7.54
• Ontario Electricity Rebate: -$13.62

What confuses me most is that my actual electricity usage is relatively low, yet the delivery charge is almost twice what I’m paying for the electricity itself.

I also noticed that my previous month's kWh consumption was higher than this month's, but the delivery charge is still high. I don’t understand what determines the delivery fee or why it seems so disproportionate to my usage.

I understand that delivery, regulatory, and other fees are separate from the cost of electricity, but I didn’t realize they could make up such a large portion of the bill.

I’d really appreciate any tips from other Hydro Ottawa customers. I’m new to this and just trying to understand what I can realistically do to bring my bill down.

Thanks in advance!

Preferably around Ottawa area, but can expand a bit further. Need it for my son ASAP.

I recently accepted a position with a contractor at OPG as a scaffolder and will be starting my training there soon. I was wondering if anyone has experience transitioning from working for a contractor to becoming an OPG employee directly. I’ve heard a lot of great things about working for OPG and would be interested in learning more about the opportunities and potential pathways to transition over.

My mother has dementia and keeps falling and breaking bones. She falls about 4 times a day now and breaks a new bone every week. The hospital keeps putting pressure on me to take her home but because I can't watch her 24 hours a day I can't keep her safe.

I know that hospitals are not supposed to discharge people if they would be unsafe at home, but I'm not sure how the process works for transitional care units (rehab centers)? I feel like the hospital social worker and health at home care coordinator are not being honest with me and just want to clear a hospital bed.

We are on the waitlist for LTC with regular status and want to change to crisis status. But the care coordinator is refusing to do an assessment unless we let her move back home! It seems like the health at home care coordinator is on the side of the hospital (pushing for me to take her back).

I've read a few posts here about hospitals doing an unsafe discharge but I haven't found anything about how TCUs work. Are they allowed to force an elderly person with dementia back home even if they are falling and it is unsafe for them? Or does that standard only apply to hospitals?

What usually happens if a patient is still a risk to themselves even after spending 3 or 4 weeks in a TCU? What happens to them after that?

Anyone have any experience of getting a car battery replaced through CAA? I have an older car with a dead battery, typically I would get it towed to the local garage since I don't want to do the replacement myself. But I see that CAA offers a mobile battery service that will come to me. Anyone have experience of this service? How is the price/quality?

Hi there Ontaio,

My wife and I have a 3 month gap coming up between selling our house and moving into a new build and will be at an AirBnB for that time.

I know that I need to change Drivers + health card etc. within 6 and 30 days, but can you use an AirBnB address for these?

Due to many circumstances, I have an expired driver's licence (>1 year) and an expired passport that are not acceptable documents for getting a Photo Card. On the Ontario website, it states that a Canadian Citizenship card issued before 2012 can be acceptable to apply. However, the photo on my Citizenship card is of me as a baby (issued 2003). I'm assuming I will still have to provide supporting documents such as my health card to verify my signature, but would this be enough documentation to go through with the application? Should I just apply for a new passport instead?

Hi everyone! Like I said, I can't get a straight answer to this at all, so I'm looking for one here. I'm a 31-year-old trans woman at a school for my Masters in Toronto. Originally I'm from Montreal, and I use a Quebec health card for the doctors I see, which are almost entirely through my university clinic. I'm applying for funding for gender affirming surgery, and I consider this pretty life changing and necessary surgery, and the best way to do it (with the quickest wait time) is if I have an OHIP card, so I have been thinking about changing from my Quebec health card to an OHIP one. If I apply for gender affirming surgery funding with a Quebec health card, it will be a waiting list of 3-5x as long as the OHIP wait time (already over a year) because of where Quebec politics are right now.

Now, having an OHIP card would actually make some things a lot easier, like blood tests and some other elective procedures. I just would have to reapply to the Quebec health insurance plan (RAMQ) if and when I ever move back there. However, I am dependent on Quebec student loans (from the Aide financière aux études/AFE) for funding for my Masters program here.

If I apply for an OHIP card will that change my residence such that I will be ineligible for Quebec student aid? Does anyone know if switching to an OHIP card for the next year will invalidate my ability to get those loans over the next year?

Thanks!

Today is the day. The Rebuilding Ontario Place Act exempts the province from environmental and heritage legislation and limits legal claims arising from the redevelopment. The appeal argues the second part crosses a constitutional line.

The reason this isn’t a Ontario story: Alberta, Saskatchewan, BC, Quebec, Yukon and the federal government have all intervened alongside Ontario. Whatever the Court says about how far a legislature can go in limiting review of its own conduct applies to every province.

Worth reading the Canadian Constitution Foundation’s intervention in particular — they’re not usually on the same side as Greenpeace and the CCLA.

Will courts in Canada be rendered useless?

Will this story be covered in Canadian press?

We will find out today on Ottawa at the Supreme Court!

I took some photos this morning from Eagle's Nest Park in Bancroft. It's a really amazing time of year. Highly recommending coming here, but if you cannot, just make sure to go out and explore Autumn in your area.

Right now is the best time of year for Ontario. Beautiful Scenery, No Bugs and decent temperature.
Cheers!