Michael Parsa

Ontario's Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services quietly stopped producing its annual reports tracking child welfare-connected deaths — reports that showed the number rising every year, reaching 134 in 2023, one every three days. Internal government documents show officials flagged the death statistics as a PR problem that could "overshadow" a planned announcement. When Global News filed an FOI in early 2026, the ministry said the records didn't exist.

As Minister of Children, Community and Social Services from March 2023, Parsa presided over the period during which the ministry stopped producing annual child welfare death summary reports. His ministry's internal documents framed the rising death toll as a communications liability. His FOI response confirmed no aggregate data was compiled for 2024 or 2025.

Ontario's child support enforcement agency takes an average of 8.5 months to register a court order and issue a first payment, has allowed $2.1 billion in arrears to accumulate, and left 43 former employees with live access to a database of vulnerable Ontarians' personal information — all findings confirmed by the Auditor General in May 2026.

As Minister responsible for the Family Responsibility Office, Parsa's ministry presides over an agency that leaves families waiting 8.5 months for legally owed child support and has allowed $2.1 billion in arrears to accumulate. The ministry also failed to revoke database access for 43 former employees.

On August 13, 2026 the Ford government amended the Ontario Works and ODSP regulations so that people without legal status in Canada are ineligible for social assistance, after a tribunal ruled in favour of a man whose temporary work permit had expired decades earlier.

Minister of Children, Community and Social Services; said the regulation change will "ensure taxpayer dollars are focused on people facing financial hardship who are legally allowed to live in Canada."

Ontario's Ombudsman found adults with developmental disabilities are being held in hospital beds — sometimes for years — because the province never built the community housing and supports it promised, producing what his report calls "a modern form of institutionalization by default."

Minister of Children, Community and Social Services — one of the two ministries the Ombudsman investigated in Lost in Transition, released November 25, 2025. The investigation examined whether the ministry is taking adequate steps to address the inappropriate hospitalization of adults with developmental disabilities. No source reviewed attributes any personal decision on this file to him, and the ministries' formal responses to the report were not reviewed.

On August 28, 2026 the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services took over the Children's Aid Society of the Districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin, appointing a supervisor for up to a year after ministry reviews alleged children in care were unsafe and the society was financially mismanaged. Ontario's former Provincial Child Advocate — whose office the Ford government eliminated — says the allegations warrant an independent investigation, while the former board says it warned the ministry about the cost pressures for years.

As Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, Parsa heads the ministry that appointed a supervisor over the Children's Aid Society of the Districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin on August 28, 2026, citing child-safety and financial-mismanagement concerns. Former Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth Irwin Elman has called for his resignation. CBC twice requested an interview with the ministry about the appointment; both requests were declined.