Tillsonburg, Strathroy among Service Ontario locations moving into Staples stores

Service Ontario-Staples pilot project Strathroy and Tillsonburg are among the first to get new Staples Canada-Service Ontario centres. Bryan Bicknell explains.

Ontario residents will be able to renew their health cards and driver’s licenses, and access other government services at some Staples locations as early as this week, including two locations in the London region.

But it means shuttering nine stand-alone Service Ontario locations across the province.

Driver Shane Chapman arrived at the Strathroy Service Ontario location Monday to deal with multiple vehicle transfers and new license plates. It amounted to a lot of paperwork he said he doesn’t have time to deal with.

“I don’t want to do it by myself,” he exclaimed. “I just came from Lambeth and there’s 30 people in there. That’s why I came here, it’s never busy. And I’m not doing it by myself.”

Unfortunately for Chapman, the Strathroy Service Ontario location is one of nine privately-run outlets across the province on the chopping block.

They’re about to be replaced by kiosks inside Staples retail stores.

Strathroy resident Lisa Eliasen said the idea makes her nervous.

“I’m not quite sure if that makes me feel super secure, I’m not super [knowledgeable with] technology,” she said.

Also closing in the London region is the Tillsonburg Service Ontario location.

Additional locations to be relocated in Staples stores include Oakville, Newmarket, Scarborough, and Welland. They are set to come online Thursday, Feb. 1.

Leaside, Hamilton, and Keswick will open later this year.

Some Service Ontario locations become extremely busy with long lineups at certain times of the day, including the lunch hour.

The government said the new model aims to solve this problem with extended hours at the new locations.

“With some being open until 9 p.m. on weekdays, as well as all day Saturdays until 5 p.m.,” said Todd McCarthy, the minister of Public and Business Service Delivery at an official announcement Monday.

London driver Tanya Candler believes the new setup will be more convenient.

“Opening up a bigger space where maybe there are a lot more wickets open will keep people happier and get people served in a quicker fashion, it’ll make things a lot easier,” she said.

Operating and capital costs for the pilot program will be about $10.2 million over three years, including retrofitting stores.

McCarthy said $1 million will be saved over that time. Opposition parties, however, are not buying it.

“What savings are they even talking about? Why didn’t they open this for competitive bidding? What is the business case?” asked Tom Rakocevic, NDP critic for Consumer Protection.

The government said it was able to sole-source the contract because it was a pilot program and therefore they did not need to ask for bids.

“This met all the requirements in the Ontario Public Sector Service Model,” said McCarthy.