Applying for a passport will become easier for district residents when Service Canada’s Fort Frances office begins offering passport receiving services at the end of the month.
“All of the preliminary checking and verification to expedite faster processing of passports, and eliminate the need for people to travel to either Winnipeg or Thunder Bay, will be done right in Fort Frances,” said Alec Faulds, director of Service Canada in Kenora.
“This is part of an expansion that’s been piloted in a number of communities, and in Northwestern Ontario we’ve had a pilot site in Kenora for the past two years,” he noted.
The pilot project was made possible through a collaboration between Service Canada and Passport Canada.
“Our experience has been that it certainly expedites people getting their passports sooner—certainly without the need to have to travel,” Faulds added.
Human Resources and Social Development minister Monte Solberg announced the continued expansion of passport receiving agent services last Tuesday (April 3) in Regina.
“This means more people will be able to apply for passports in person at the same place they come to for other government services,” Solberg noted.
“By making the passport application even more accessible to all Canadians, Receiving Agent sites allow us to continue providing citizens with the high level of service they expect—service that is innovative, secure, professional, and convenient,” Foreign Affairs minister Peter MacKay said in a press release.
“This is a joint effort,” Solberg added. “Working with other departments and agencies to provide Canadians with one-stop service is what Service Canada is all about.
“Our job is to connect with other government departments so you don’t have to,” he stressed.
Currently, district residents who wish to apply for a passport must travel with all their documentation to Thunder Bay or Winnipeg—the nearest passport offices.
They also have the option of mailing the completed form and documents themselves from home.
With the mailing option, applicants risk making an error, such as missing something on the form, or forgetting one of the identification documents.
Having a local passport receiving agent will help avoid those errors.
“The intent is to eliminate all those delays that happen as a result of mail processing,” Faulds said.
“They make sure all the information is accurate, all the information is complete, and make sure that people get their passports sooner,” he added.
Faulds noted staff at the local Service Canada office, located at 301 Scott St., have been undergoing training for the new service for the last few weeks, and expect to be ready to begin passport receiving April 30.
The new service also will result in the hiring of new staff at the local office.
Receiving agents only can accept standard passport applications. If any of the following conditions apply, the applicant must submit their application directly to Passport Canada:
•the application is urgent (travel date is less than 20 working days away plus mailing time);
•a valid passport submitted with the application has more than a one-year validity;
•there is an indication of a lost, stolen, damaged, mutilated, or inaccessible passport;
•the applicant does not have a guarantor and uses a Statutory Declaration in Lieu of Guarantor (PPT 132);
•a child’s application where there is no participation of the other parent, no matter what the circumstances (i.e., death, sole custody, etc.);
•requests for a free replacement;
•requests for extension of limited validity passport; or
•requests to add a married name to a maiden name passport.
Final decisions regarding approval and issuance of passports remains with Passport Canada.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
