News of the permanent closure of the ServiceOntario centre on Grand Avenue East in Chatham caused some upset earlier this week, but government officials say the search for a new service provider for Chatham is underway.
The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS) issued the news bulletin about the closure Aug. 22, with the date of “permanent” closing of Aug. 26.
But late Friday, government officials said the closure date was moved back a month to Sept. 30.
People were advised in the bulletin to go to centre locations in Blenheim, Dresden or Tilbury for counter service or access more than 40 services online.
The centres are used for health card and driver’s licence renewals.
Sandra Bento, Media Relations Advisor with MGSC, clarified the situation, however.
“Service Ontario is committed to ensuring quality services for Ontarians in communities across the province,” Bento said via e-mail. “The service provider who operates the ServiceOntario centre in Chatham chose to exit the business. We have full intention to bring a ServiceOntario centre back to the community of Chatham. Our ministry has initiated a procurement process to acquire a new service provider to minimize the service gap to community and this work is underway.”
Until a new service provider is found, Bento said customers can access the various services online, including health card renewals and a number of driver and vehicle services at http://www.ontario.ca/page/serviceontario.
Chatham residents can visit nearby ServiceOntario centres located at:
Blenheim – 45 James St., Unit 5 (20 km)
Dresden – 485 St. George St. S. (28 km)
Tilbury – 52 Queen St. N. (29 km).
“We will inform the community once we have secured a new service provider,” Bento added.
Having to go out of town for service is going to be an inconvenience for seniors and those without access to a vehicle, as well as businesses who use the centre’s service frequently.
While the average citizen visits a Service Ontario centre once a year, the same is not true for staff at auto dealerships. Ownership changes on trade ins and new license plates and ownership information for car sales can happen multiple times a day.
Some Chatham dealers say they already use Wallaceburg’s Service Ontario centre, as a representative from that office makes regular stops at their businesses to handle pick up and drop off of relevant information and materials.
Others, such as Van Kesteren Hyundai, had, until Monday, been using the Chatham office of Service Ontario.
General manager Jeremy Van Kesteren said the announcement of the closure caught he and his staff by surprise.
“We’ve been using Chatham for years. That’s a big pain in our butt,” he said of the closure. “We just took it for granted. It was always there.”
As for what the dealership will do going forward, Van Kesteren said they would have to send someone out of town to handle licensing.
“We’ll probably end up going to Wallaceburg or Tilbury. We want to definitely be organized and try to not go more than once a day if we can,” he said.
The closure of the Chatham Service Ontario has left Van Kesteren scratching his head. He believes it should be a profitable endeavour for an entrepreneur.
“It’s almost a guaranteed paycheque,” he said.
Van Kesteren said he hopes someone else opens a Service Ontario office in Chatham. And he knows where it should be located – close to the cluster of dealerships in central Chatham.
“It should go down on Richmond Street. Somebody would clean up,” he said, referring to the usage by all the dealers located along Richmond.
As more and more can be done online, such as plate renewals for the average car owner, Van Kesteren said perhaps that has cut into the business for the franchise owner.
MPP Rick Nicholls’s office did respond to a request for comment.
