1. How does this search engine work?
www.310CCAC.ca is a provincial gateway search engine that connects users to relevant data source(s) as provided by partner data providers: thehealthline, CCR, CCI, CCAC I&R, Circuitesante and Findhelp (in partnership with multiple local Community Information Centres).
310ccac does not store or maintain the data records. The information presented in searches is provided by partner data providers.
The search engine looks to match the keywords you entered in "What Service or Organization?" in the service records in the databases accessed by this tool. Different keywords may yield different search results.
For Example:
"Disabled", "Disability" and "Disabilities" OR "Hospital" and "Hospitals" OR "Foot Care" and "Footcare"
2. Searching keywords to the "What Service or Organization?" Search box
You can add as many keywords that you like, up to 110 characters. The search engine will try to match all keywords entered.
We strongly recommend that you take advantage of the guided search feature to maximize your results. It works in the following manner:
As you begin to enter your search keyword, you will be prompted with a dropdown menu of suggested word(s), term(s) and phrases. This may assist you to select an appropriate keyword, term or phrase to use in your search.
In order to get accurate search results, define as clearly as possible the keywords or search criteria.
When you have multiple words or a specific phrase you wish to search on, place the words or phrase in quotations.
For Example:
"Foot Care"; "Hospital based"; "OHIP funded"; "Long Term Care Facilities"
3. Selecting Area(s) Served in the "Choose your Service Area" Search box
In order to access information about Services and Organizations that provide services to a specific area(s), start typing in the desired area name. Make your selection from the drop down list presented. As you enter more letters the selections in the dropdown will change to reflect this. For best results select the city name as indicated in the auto complete drop down.
For example:
"Hamilton (City of)" will provide better search results
You may make multiple selects that must be separated, by a comma only (without a space) in order to select appropriate areas from the dropdown menu.
By default, the Service Area searched will be as you have defined AND will include geographic areas equal to or larger than the selected area(s). All results indicate organizations that serve the selected area.
For Example:
Select "Essex County"
Organizations and Programs that service "Essex County", "Southwestern Ontario" and all of "Ontario" will be included in the search results display.
If you wish to confine your search to the specific area you have defined, remove the check box from the "Expand Service Area Search". Now the search results displayed will be for the Service you have defined only (ie: "Essex County") AND will include geographic areas that are smaller than and contained in the Service area(s) specified.
For Example:
Select "Essex County"
Search results for Service Area "Essex County" will include organizations and programs that service "Essex County" and smaller geographic areas within that region such as "Leamington" and "Windsor"
4. Unable to find the Service Area in the Dropdown List?
If you can’t find a specific Service Area in the dropdown list, expand your search to the larger community that includes the area you are looking to find services in.
For Example:
"Kerwood" is not a defined Service Area but is part of "Middlesex County" which is a defined Service Area
5. Interpreting and Sorting the Search Results Alphabetically
Search results are presented in a table format to provide easy access to the information provided by the partner data providers.
Search Results in each of the results table columns can be sorted to display results alphabetically by:
• Clicking on the heading "Service" in the Search Results table
• Clicking on heading "Service Area" in the Search Results table
• Clicking on heading "Address City" in the Search Results
Note: Confidential address information such as with Women’s shelters, will not be displayed in the search result "Address" column and will be labeled Not Applicable or unknown.
6. Reasons why Search Results may not contain the data you are Seeking
1) The word you are using for your search is not contained in the Service record.
For example:
"Hospital": Even though the organization is a hospital, there may be no reference to the word "hospital" in the record therefore it will not display in the search results when you search using the word "Hospital".
I&R Super Users are asked to record such instances for further action/investigation at a later time.
2) The record may not have been identified as servicing the Service area you have specified. You may have defined a search area too narrowly. Remember to use the default setting which will include results for Services areas larger than the one you have specified.
3) The record may not be available to be displayed as it was a recent update by the partner data provider that still needs to be crawled by the Search Engine for inclusion in the master list of organizations recorded by our data provider partners. It could take up to 72 hours for the information to be displayed.
7. Contact Us
If you are unable to find the information you are looking for, call 310CCAC or you can send a request via email. By indicating your postal code, the email will be routed to the appropriate CCAC who will respond to the request as required.