Is there a GOOD day to go to the passport office?

[shaynar]

I need to get passports for my kids. I know it's going to be hell no matter what day I go, I am just curious if there are some days that are worse than others (eg is monday the worst?)

PS I'm going to the main office in Toronto on Yonge and Sheppard.

 

[Gigi22]

Just a sec--you may want to look at the Passport Canada website at: http://www.ppt.gc.ca for current information.

Passport Canada and Service Canada have changed how they do things--you are better off to go directly to the Passport Canada office at 74 Victoria St., Suite #300 (open Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) because you can present your original documents and get them returned to you from that office. If you go to a Service Canada office that does passports, as I understand it--Service Canada can only mail you your original documents (birth certificates, etc.).

Can't help with how busy the Toronto office is--but we recently renewed our passports, and were very pleased with the efficiency of the Ottawa Passport Canada office. We had all our forms, photos, etc. completed and were in and out in less than 30 min.

 

[shaynar]

Thank Gigi. The one I'm going to is a passport office, not a service ontario location.
I'll just go early in the morning and hope for the best!!! Thanks!

 

[Gigi22]

OK! Just a suggestion, because we nearly made the mistake of going to the Passport Canada office that we have always gone to and it turned out that Passport Canada had relocated their main office in Ottawa, be sure you check that there is still an office at the location you mentioned. I did a quick check online, and I didn't see one at Yonge and Sheppard.

 

[shaynar]

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/service/offices.aspx?lang=eng&graph=on&province=ON&chkPPTC=on

Still there as far as I see it....

 

[erynsmom]

I took ours to a Service Canada location and got all original plus our old passports back with the new ones. If you check the box on the form they should be returned. The child form doesn't have a box but the rep that helped me wrote a note on the form they send with the application.

Hope this helps.
Cheryl

BTW I went to the office in Oakville and was in and out in less than 10 minutes.

 

[YukiPhnx]

My family has always renewed our passports in the location next to Scarborough Town Centre and have never had any problems with it.

I would recommend that location because we didn't wait more than 20mins and they provide seats for you to wait in while they call your number. I've never been to the Yonge and Sheppard location for passports.

An even better location is the one in Whitby. Small town offices have much smaller crowds and will sometimes have better service. My dad recently renewed his passport there with no trouble.

 

[braddillman]

I don't know Toronto very well, but I agree with other posters to try the less popular offices. Everyone goes to the passport office in Halifax which is busy, but you could go to the service canada office in Bedford which is much less busy (and free parking is available). Check the web, call ahead, etc. you'll have a much better time.

 

[networktek]

if you fill it out online and print it out you go in a different line on the victoria st location but if you are going to be there first thing in the morning get there for 7:00 am about an hour before they open

 

[sportel]

Depending on your travel dates, you can also submit your paperwork by mail. We've done them twice now by mail and the turnaround time has been within a few weeks. I was nervous about sending the kids original birth certificates in the mail, but there were no problems.

 

[bdoyledimou]

Scarborogh Town center is awesome on a Tuesday morning. not busy at all -- seems a lot of people go on Monday and weds though.

 

[sk8jdgca]

Just make sure you fill in the forms on line and print them so they have the bar code on them- I did that walked into a crowded office-went to the special line for those who printed off the forms and was called in less than 2 minutes

 

[jtdl]

Depending on your travel dates, you can also submit your paperwork by mail. We've done them twice now by mail and the turnaround time has been within a few weeks. I was nervous about sending the kids original birth certificates in the mail, but there were no problems.

Yes, I sent our renewals in on Dec 6 (took to our local MPs office and they check them over and courier them) and received them back Dec 24 - so just over 2 weeks. Sure beats sitting in the passport office for a couple of hours.

 

[abdmom]

I was at the Yonge-Sheppard passport office both today (a Monday) and last Friday. On Friday, we arrived about 3:30-3:45 in the afternoon and were out by 4:30. That was with 3 passports to process. Today, Monday, we arrived about 11:00 am, stood in line for quite a while to be pre-screened (mayber 45-60 minutes) and then had to wait another 45-60 minutes for our number to be called. It took over 2 hours for one passport. They estimated we would receive the passports in 2 weeks.

 

[HunterBoo]

We went to the Whitby office twice (once in February) and once in the summer to get hubby's done. First time spent about a total of 30 mins to get in and get out. Second time was maybe 15 minutes max. Thought this was great!! I filled information out online before we went so they just had to scan the barcodes too.
I will drive down there rather than ship them out through our MPs office. Worth it in my opinion
Good luck!

 

[VictoriaM]

Filled out all the forms online and printed them at home to renew our 4 passports. Drove to the Yonge/Sheppard office on Tues Dec 18 waited for about a half hour for my number to be called, took about another half hour at the counter. Got our passports in the mail Dec 31, so exactly 2 weeks.

 

[abdmom]

Just got my passports today via the Yonge-Sheppard office. Took 5 business days, over the holidays yet.

 

[SantaClaus]

Here's a little secret if you live in Alberta or Ontario: The BEST day to go to a Federal (i.e. Govt of Canada) office of any kind for service is on the holiday Monday in February (aka Family Day in Alberta). It is a PROVINCIAL holiday so the Federal offices are still open! However, because it is a "holiday", everyone assumes the Passport Office etc. will be closed. Has worked a charm for us quite a few times.

 

[pigletto]

My husband dropped his and my sons off today and was in and out in 20 minutes. However, I got a call at 4:45 to call them back, and I was the guarantor on my sons application so I guess there is a problem. I can't call them back until Monday but it's going to bug me all weekend

 

[webworm]

Went to the mississauga passport office last tuesday and got in line for 8AM opening and was done by 8:15AM. Very Quick!!