ServiceOntario

Services

The following are some of the services delivered by ServiceOntario on behalf of the government:

• Ontario Health Insurance Plan registration and health card renewals
• Birth, marriage and death certificates
• Driver and vehicle licensing (except driver testing and related transactions, which are generally delivered by separate DriveTest centres operated under contract by Serco)
• Business registration
• Fishing and hunting licence
• Ontario Photo Card
• Address change
• Newborn registration
• Ontario government publications
• Landlord Tenant Board services
• Commissioner of Oaths services

Retail locations

In January 2024, the Doug Ford government announced that some standalone ServiceOntario locations would be closed and replaced by locations co-located within retail stores as a pilot project. The majority of these locations are situated within Staples Canada stores, while two are located at Walmart stores. The program is intended to reduce the costs of delivering the services, reduce wait times, and increase availability, with further partnerships with other businesses being investigated. Doug Ford defended the scheme as similar to Canada Post locations co-located within pharmacies.

The program has faced criticism; the Ontario NDP questioned the provincial government's decision to enter into a taxpayer-funded sole-source contract with an American-owned corporation to deliver government services. Taxpayer money is being used to fund the construction of the in-store locations, at an estimated cost of $1.75 million. A request was made to the Financial Accountability Office by the Liberal Party in regards to the deal. In January 2025, the FAO released a report noting that the deal would cost the government $1.5 million more than the initial government estimation of $10.2 million. The report found that the new locations had 47.7% longer operating hours due to being tied to the stores' hours, but 30% less service desks. The FAO also found that the deal cost the government $800,000 more than retaining the original ServiceOntario operators with the same hours of operation.

References

References

1. Auditor General of Ontario. (2013). "Annual Report of the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario: Ministry of Government Services". Queen's Printer for Ontario.
2. "ServiceOntario kiosks remain out of order after illegal card readers found". 680News.
3. "ServiceOntario kiosks permanently closed". Government of Ontario.
4. "Own a private ServiceOntario centre". Government of Ontario.
5. (21 March 2014). "ServiceOntario: The Straight Facts". Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
6. "Ford government to use taxpayer funds to retrofit 2 Walmart stores to also host ServiceOntario kiosks".
7. "Minister defends plan to replace some ServiceOntario centres with Staples store kiosks".
8. "Staples Canada lays off head office staff, company takes $1.75M of taxpayer money for ServiceOntario retrofit".
9. "Ford government to pay for Staples retrofit as retailer looks to ‘monetize’ ServiceOntario".
10. "Ford government facing renewed questions over ServiceOntario deals".
11. Casaletto, Lucas. (January 15, 2025). "Ford government’s ServiceOntario move to Staples will cost $11.7M, exceeding initial estimate: FAO". [[CityNews]].