Service Canada Centre and Passport Services

My son and I applied for new passports today and were in and out within 1.5hrs. Not too shabby. Lady who first greeted us was a delight, the one who processed our application not so much. Although I imagine doing this multiple times a day get’s a little tiring. Go in prepared with everything complete and it’s a smooth process.

Came in yesterday distraught as I needed an emergency passport as I was leaving the country the next day.

Came in at 11am and by 4pm I got a new passport. Extremely grateful at the staff in this location for pulling off the impossible!

Processing estimates are completely wrong. My passport has taken over 2x as long as they said it would. When I request a status update I don't hear back.

Access the mall via View St entrance. Was 3rd in line at 730am. It opens at 830am. Submitted 2 passport renewals. Done by 9am. Helpful and courteous staff.

I have a services canada appt.for august 9th at 9: 00 a m.and was told I would receive an email with time and adress wonder what happened? Gov error, huh.

Very friendly staff, from the door to the assistants inside. It's such a daunting process to go through but they definitely make it a lot better to deal with passport stuff

My wife and I successfully applied for our urgent passports today, the Monday after the long weekend. The staff were all wonderful. They were friendly, understanding and efficient.

The office was very busy. We lined up outside on the street at 10pm the night before. When we arrived, there were already people waiting. My wife brought our dog's bed and it was surprisingly comfy! I went to sleep at half past midnight and there were around 14 people waiting at that time. When I woke up at 3.30am, the line had grown all the way down the street. We were let into the mall at 6am. It was all very civilized. Security staff made sure everyone in line was awake before 6am and then we proceeded in an orderly manner to the 4th floor. On arrival, other staff directed us to lines of chairs arranged in order. Washrooms opened at 7am. Around 7.30am, Service Canada staff began taking a register of those in line and checking documents. At 8.30am, we were let into the Service Canada office. We were promptly helped and our documents were processed at around 9.30am. We were done by 9.45am.

Again, the staff were all fantastic and super kind and helpful. The sleeping on the street experience went by quickly and we made some new friends who were also waiting. I strongly advise you to arrive as early as you can and bring with you warm clothing, blankets and refreshments.

The level of care and concern when dealing with people that have been trying to receive passports for over 6 months at this facility is absolutely disgusting. We have been told to go her, there and everywhere back and forth constantly. Now, 24 hours before we are supposed to be flying out of the country, we have essentially been told that it isn't their problem that they cannot do their job, and to come back another day to maybe get anywhere with the passport processing. Not a single person was polite or helpful. Yet another Canadian government facility with no clue how to actually do their job. Must be a consistent theme. I'm getting awfully sick of this b.s. Government and their useless operations. Disgusting!

There were over 200 people waiting in line at 0830. Service Canada claims "they don't know why this location is experiencing so many issues. " I had to explain to her that the location in Langford is even worse AND that people are coming in from Vancouver because the lines are somehow better here? ! This is BAD. REALLY BAD.

Today I waited for passport application at 9: 30am (line is all the way to Bay store entrance), finally at 2: 30pm was allowed to go inside. Another half an hour, one officer checked my forms and told me that they do not have time to process the application today and I have to come another day starting from beginning. Basically my whole day was wasted. I understood there are many people waiting for passports, but the office could do a better job calculate the capacity and roughly know how many people they can take. If beyond the capacity, should notify the people inline to go home, or give them a time for next day/ week. Let people wasting the whole day waiting for nothing is just not right, especially some lady bring their babies with them. Suggestion for whoever want to apply: start very early morning, I was told people lineup at midnight, at least 6am or so.

Some further information that adds onto the review below mine (if you sort by newest). They're still allowing people in before 8: 30. I know because I'm sitting in a 50+ person line up at 06: 47

Edit: 13: 34 is the time, I've been in the office since 0930ish and I received my number at 1007. I am still waiting for my number to be called. The kind lady at the desk told me I was behind twelve people when I recieved my number, it has been over 3 hours since then.

Edit#2: it took 9 hours but I put in my application. Expect little.

The place is neat and clean. The staff is friendly and helpful. However, I had to wait for 40 minutes even though I arrived 10 minutes before my appointment time.

Why do we visit Service Canada?
Well because we need help out of necessity.
The staff are amazingly courteous, helpful and patient when you drop in. Words just isn't enough to describe the services they provide.

Thank you guys & gals.

As of May 16 2022, for walk-in passport services, they only accept travel within 10 days. And the wait in line could be 3-6 hours if you can't book appointment. Also avoid Mondays - you're fighting 2-day worth of people from the weekend.

If you're full prepared with your applications, the staff would finish with you at the counter within 10 minutes, which was my experience. You can download the forms with all the steps and requirements on the passport website.

Many of 1 star reviews lately are just unfair. Your poor planning/preparation does not constitute other people's emergency. By now, from news and reports, you should be already fully aware of how overwhelmed the passport offices are. Know that not only do they do passports but also provide social benefits to those in need

I wanted to share my experience of a walk in client who has a travel date (june 19th) and has lost their passport. I lined up today inside at 6: 40am and had at least 50 people in front of me waiting. The earliest somebody had gotten there was 2am allegedly, unsure if they had to wait outside until a certain time or if they had been inside the whole time. I ended up inside service Canada by ~9: 20am, at which point I was turned away because my travel date was not close enough. It states on the website that you will be served if you travel date is within 10 days which mine is 10 days out, but it seems to have changed to 2 days. The people working there are kind, they’re just trying to do their job. I’m sure they have a lot on their plate so don’t forget to be kind to them! Nonetheless it is a gong show. I have an appointment for tomorrow morning that I booked a few weeks ago as a back up, I went as a walk in this morning as it worked better for my schedule. Goodluck to those in a similar position to me!

Very abusive behavior! I went there two times. Each time u had to wait 8 hours and been told to come next week for an urgent passport. Their website says within 25 days but they wanted you to come within 5 days. When I complained about that they advised me to cancel the trip! In addition to misinformation, they are very rude and abusive, they wanted people ro wait at the doors at 6 am. I witnessed the security guy asking two elders people who were sitting on a seat to stand up in the line! Now I have to take a third day off

I will try to share some info that can help anyone with questions they may have.

First of all, wait times - I arrived at 7: 15 (June 3) and finally spoke to someone at 11: 30. I heard a couple different pieces of info from workers and those standing in line and it seems like the first wave of people line up around 5-6am, possibly earlier if they’re super keen.

Beyond initially speaking with the first service agent, many people were directed to the waiting room where (I assume) they waited to speak to another agent and file their expedited renewal. This wasn’t my case so I lack any further info on the process.

The passport office is on the 4th floor beside the food court. Today, people were lined up across the food court and down the hall around GoodLife gym. That being said, security guard told me that today (Friday June 3) was the last day they are letting people into the mall before 8am, meaning you’ll have to wait outside until 8am starting Monday June 5th (the office opens at 8: 30).

Hope I helped!

Went from Vancouver to get my emergency passport. The staff and security are super helpful. The passport was taking a little longer the expected to print, but Julie made sure my passport got printed on time so I don’t miss my ferry.

I applied for my daughters passport September 2020, and it's now May 2021. I still have not received it. I had wait on the phone behind 700 people, and five hours. I finally got through for them to say that they were sorry they should've notified me, but they need a different copy of my separation agreement which is 12 years old. So after waiting a month from the court registry to get another agreement and after sending it in they now need to talk to my ex-husband who has filled out the application form, and has signed it. My daughter is now 16, and qualifies for the adult passport. I paid for the passport six months ago, and every time he calls he's in line behind hundreds and hundreds of people, and he just doesn't have the time during the day while he's working to wait online for five hours. I have no idea why they want to talk to him in the first place. Meanwhile they are in possession of her birth certificate for 8 months now. This entire entity needs a major overhaul, and managers need to be fired.

The line was really long for the passport, but everybody at this office is doing their very best to serve everyone’s needs. They are all very graceful regardless of how busy it is. Thank you for the wonderful staff, the security guards, and thanks Julie for being so kind and helpful with my passport application.