Six ServiceOntario outlets to move into Staples on Feb. 1, three more later this year

The Ontario government has announced six ServiceOntario locations will be moving into Staples Canada retail stores starting Thursday.

Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery Todd McCarthy made the announcement Monday morning in Oakville, Ont. He also said three more SeviceOntario centres will open later this year inside Staples, totalling nine locations.

Here is where the ServiceOntario centres will be operating inside of Staples locations in Ontario:

• Oakville at 2460 Winston Churchill Blvd.
• Newmarket at 17810 Yonge St.
• Toronto (Scarborough) at 1980 Eglinton Ave. E.
• Strathroy at 425 Caradoc St. S.
• Tillsonburg in Tillsonburg Town Centre at 200 Broadway St.
• Welland in Seaway Mall at 800 Niagara St.

The other three locations will be in Hamilton, Keswick and in Toronto’s Leaside neighbourhood.

“Staples Canada is a fantastic fit into our retail partnership model,” McCarthy said. “This is not new. … For the past fifteen years, ServiceOntario has worked with Canadian Tire, IDA, and Home Hardware as retail partners.”

McCarthy said by allowing ServiceOntario to operate inside of Staples there are benefits such as being in areas with more parking, access the transit and extended hours. He said some locations will be open as late as 9 p.m. on weekdays and all day on Saturdays until 5 p.m.

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The government said the Staples Canada model is projected to save around $1 million over the three-year pilot in operating costs. After being pressed by multiple reporters, McCarthy would not reveal exactly how much the entire move to also retrofit the new ServiceOntario locations would cost taxpayers and has not released the business case.

1:33 Service Ontario-Staples deal projected to save around $1M over 3 years: McCarthy

“Ministry officials looked at the expiring contracts,” McCarthy said. “They could see that over the next three years there was going to be over $11 million in operating costs. Those operating costs with these pilot projects are now being reduced to about $10 million.”

“And that’s including the capital costs for the retrofit investment that’s always borne by the government. So that savings is $1 million over three years, and that’s because of the leasing cost savings in this particular pilot project.”

McCarthy said the move is “an investment” to create better customer service for Ontarians and that it’s not a one-size fits all solution for all ServiceOntario locations.