November 2, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CRANBROOK, British Columbia — Jim Abbott, Member of Parliament for Kootenay–Columbia, on behalf of the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, and the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced today that the Service Canada Centre in Cranbrook has started accepting passport applications. This represents another step in the expansion of passport receiving agent services across the country.

“The Government of Canada is working to improve the services we provide to Canadians,” said Mr. Abbott. “We are pleased to offer another passport receiving site here in British Columbia, making it more convenient for people to submit their passport applications in person at the same place they go for other government services.”

Service Canada agents review passport applications to ensure accuracy and completeness, collect the fee along with the original identification documents (birth or citizenship certificates), and forward them to Passport Canada for review and processing. The final decision on passport entitlement remain with Passport Canada. Passport Canada then delivers the passport to the applicant by courier, along with the original identification documents. Urgent applications, requests for modifications, or applications without a guarantor's signature must still be submitted in person to a Passport Canada office.

The Government also recently simplified the passport application process by allowing Canadian citizens to renew their expiring passports without having to resubmit documents to support their application. On October 1, 2007, Passport Canada also introduced its new guarantor policy, which allows most adult Canadian passport holders residing in Canada or the United States to act as guarantors.

For more information on the passport process, visit www.passportcanada.gc.ca . For more information about Service Canada’s role in helping Canadians obtain a passport, and the conditions under which citizens can use receiving agent services, call 1 800 O-Canada, click on servicecanada.gc.ca, or visit a Service Canada Centre offering passport receiving agent services.

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