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ServiceOntario at 1 Stone Road to close

Residents may have to go out of the city for services

Come October, the people of Guelph needing provincial government services like driver’s license renewals, vehicle registrations, fishing or hunting licenses, will have to go somewhere other than 1 Stone Road.

The office of Guelph MPP and Ontario Minister of Education, Liz Sandals, confirmed Wednesday that the ServiceOntario centre and land registry location at 1 Stone Road – a large provincial government office complex near the University of Guelph – will close at the end of October.

The location tends to be a busy one, with residents using it for a host of government services. There is one other ServiceOntario location in Guelph, a privately operated office at 485 Silvercreek Parkway N. that offers vehicle registration, photo identification, driver’s license and health card renewal services. It will remain open.

According to a statement from Sandal’s office, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services “did a careful analysis” of ServiceOntario offices and decided to close nine public centres across the province. Land registration staff and services at four of these offices will be consolidated to other land registry offices.

Those centres that are being closed are considered the ones most likely to minimize impacts to customers, given that other retail centres are available in those areas. The Silvercreek location offers free parking, unlike 1 Stone Road.

Anne-Marie Flanagan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services answered a number of questions via email on Wednesday afternoon.

Explaining the reasons behind the impending closure, she said that ServiceOntario is in a continual process of refining services and service delivery to better correspond to customer demand. 

“We are always looking to provide the very best service for our customers within a framework of fiscal responsibility,” she wrote.

A number of factors were considered in making the decision to close the nine centres, including the preservation of “quality customer service by ensuring capacity within the surrounding area to absorb redirected load,” and “the availability of alternative service locations within reasonable proximity of the closed site.”

In making the decision about Guelph it was determined that there are other service locations within close proximity to 1 Stone Road.

“Customers can visit the nearest centre at 485 Silvercreek Parkway North in Guelph or the nearest land registry office at 30 Duke Street West in Kitchener,” Flanagan wrote in the email. “All of the centre services are available at the Silvercreek location, and land registry services are available in Kitchener.”

There are also ServiceOntario locations in nearby Cambridge, Fergus and Kitchener, she added.

“As we move forward, customer service is and will continue to be our top priority,” she said.  

The statement from Sandal’s office said more Ontarians are opting for the convenience of online services.

“In our digital age, where people expect simple and straightforward government services and an excellent online experience, many customers are increasingly choosing the convenience of online access to services,” the statement reads, adding that there are 40 services available around the clock and seven days a week online.

The government is working with OPSEU, the union that represents the workers at ServiceOntario locations, to minimize involuntary job loss, and to find placements for employees.  There are 10 employees at the 1 Stone Road centre. 


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Rob O'Flanagan

About the Author: Rob O'Flanagan

Rob O’Flanagan has been a newspaper reporter, photojournalist and columnist for over twenty years. He has won numerous Ontario Newspaper Awards and a National Newspaper Award.
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