After more than a decade of public pleading and government lobbying, a Passport Canada office will finally open in Kelowna‘s Capri Centre Mall at 8 a.m. today.
“We need this office and now we‘re getting it,” said Kelowna-Lake Country Conservative MP Ron Cannan.
“The business case really spoke for itself. Last year, there were 50,000 passport applications from the Southern Interior. That‘s more than enough to sustain a passport office in Kelowna that will serve the entire southern Interior.”
The Passport Canada office in Kelowna is technically what‘s called a satellite office of the full-service office in Surrey.
What that means is that people who apply in Kelowna will have all their paperwork checked and received at the Capri Centre Mall, but the information will then be sent to the Surrey office for the actual passport printing.
People can choose to have their passport mailed to them in 10 working days or pick it up at the Kelowna office in 10 days as part of the standard $87 fee.
Or, you can opt for the express service for $30 more and pick up the passport back at the Capri Centre Mall in four days.
Having a counsellor check and receive the application also eliminates the possibility of applying by mail only to have it sent back because everything isn‘t in order.
People needing a passport urgently can still to travel to Surrey or downtown Vancouver for 24-hour turnaround.
“Operating Kelowna as a satellite of Surrey keeps costs down, but still improves service for the Southern Interior, where demand for passports increases about 10 per cent per year,” said Jean-Sebastien Roy of Passport Canada‘s head office in Ottawa.
The Kelowna office will have 16 staff, including a commissioner. At any one time there will be up to 10 counters operational at the office.
The office is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Passport applications can be printed off the Internet at passportcanada.gc.ca or picked up at the new passport office or any post office.
Before dropping by the new office, people should fill out the application as best they can and bring it with two new passport-size photographs of themselves, their previous passport and government-issued identification.
Passport Canada has simplified and speeded up passport renewal by creating a shorter application form and allowing any person with a valid Canadian passport that you‘ve known for two years to sign as a guarantor.
Previously, the guarantor had to be a professional, like a doctor or lawyer.
Passport Canada is also looking into replacing the five-year passport with a 10-year one so people don‘t have to apply as often. Kelowna will keep its passport receiving agents at Service Canada downtown on Queensway Avenue and at Canada Post on Banks Road. Top of Page
