Hold onto your hats, citizens, this could be big news for south Island residents who love to travel but hate to travel to Victoria to renew their passports.
Did you know Duncan’s Service Canada Centre on Jubilee Street is a passport receiving agent and has been since February of 2017?
Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal minister of Families, Children and Social Development, announced a new wave of receiving agents on Dec. 17 in Toronto.
“The Government of Canada is making passport services more accessible for Canadians, who can apply for or renew a passport at over 300 Service Canada Centres,” Duclos said. “In the spirit of constantly improving service delivery to citizens, we are putting in place new measures to make life easier for Canadians.”
The Duncan office hasn’t been too busy with passport applications and renewals but the official announcement may change that.
Officers at Service Canada Centres can review passport applications for completeness; validate original supporting documents and return them on-site to applicants; collect the service fee; and forward application packages for processing.
A staffer at the Jubilee office noted that because they are only receiving agents, and they ship the documents to Ottawa for processing, the turnaround time is roughly five weeks so travellers who need their passports in a hurry will still need to go to the Victoria office.
The Duncan agents cannot process urgent or express applications, or requests other than standard adult and child and renewal applications.
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter