Ontario's Premier Accountability Dashboard · Queen's Park Watch
Michael Parsa
Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
Michael Parsa has served as Ontario's Minister of Children, Community and Social Services under Premier Doug Ford since March 2023. During his tenure, the ministry quietly stopped producing its annual summary reports tracking child welfare-connected deaths — reports that showed the number rising to 134 in 2023, the highest on record. When confronted with that figure in 2024, Parsa declined to commit to reducing the number. Internal government documents show officials in his ministry flagged death statistics as a PR problem that could "overshadow" a planned policy announcement. The ministry's FOI response confirmed no aggregate death data was compiled for 2024 or 2025.
Connected Scandals
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.