ServiceOntario

The officer was clearly condescending and spoke to me like I had down syndrome and couldn't read. Pretty rude employees, other than that, they managed to solve my issue quickly. They should train their employees to be nicer to people. I had no choice to go there since this is the only place for foreign workers to renew their OHIP.

Ridiculous wait times for such little administrative tasks, either in person or by appointment. I was told by staff to go elsewhere.

Didn’t book an appointment just walked in to change my driver’s license address and it took me about an hour. Staff were friendly

I was very disappointed with my experience. I had scheduled an appointment for 1: 35 the following day, but when I arrived, the system never confirmed it. The receptionist, Bahara, didn't show much understanding and asked me to get back in line without acknowledging me. Unfortunately, I had to wait another 20 minutes, even though I had initially booked the appointment. The customer service left much to be desired.

Bring your genealogy, your boss, your bloodtest, DNA paper… otw prepare to waste your day get denied by whatever god know reason they throw at you.
Bring your laptop, may be bring your printer too, when you get denied by missing one keyword on your employee letter, you can add that word in and go get another number, so that you dont have to leave your work soon another day and ruin it again.

Anw, receptionists were nice and helpful tho.

I would give zero stars if I could. This is the second time that I've experienced terrible customer service. Most of the representatives at this location are rude for no apparent reason. They are very reluctant to do what they're being asked even when it's a simple task. I wanted to add a new mailing address today and the woman servicing me made it seem like it was such a big hassle. She also made some offhanded comments to another employee sitting next to her. Service Ontario needs to provide more customer service training to these employees or hire people that actually know how to respectfully interact with customers.

Went in with some forms needing commissioner of oaths, was told by the woman at the desk (I had scheduled an appointment with the opposite side) I could get my forms signed free with the Service Ontario line.

Took a while to be seen but definitely a better option for me financially. (I was quoted roughly 15 and change per page I believe, and it was a lot of stamps needed)

It's downtown so be leary of some types that hang around outside but all in all, it was a good visit.

I always have such a good experience at this location. If you book an appointment, you typically have no waiting time. The staff are all very friendly and down-to-earth, and it's a very diverse staff so there were quite a few people who had also personally immigrated to Canada who were able to explain some of what I needed from experience. For a service center, it is actually really refreshing to find such friendly and open staff and for it to feel like a true Safe Space. Their online booking feature is also very helpful.

Surprised with service level, not quite used to get a decent respectful attitude from govenment bureaucrats.

I waited for 3 hours only for the lady to start inviting excuses to reject my papers, and every time I prove to her my papers are correct she invites a new excuse.
Extremely poor service

Arrived 5 min before opening with 3 requests and 6 people ahead of me, and was out the door 20 minutes later. Efficient and friendly.

Went to apply for OHIP (because I'm on a work permit). They check you have all documents first then give you a number. Once you get to the counter things are quick and efficient. If you're applying for OHIP you'd need a letter from your employer (that is written for this specific reason), and proof of address (a signed lease works). Both of these can be just on your phone, no need to print them. I had to bring my passport and my work permit as well, and fill an application. Happy with the service.

Pretty quick service. Got my OHIP within 15 mins of entering their office. Staff was also very courteous.

Organised & quite place with polite staff.

- In general you should have prior appointment (would suggest to take one) to get your health card, but there is provision for non-appointment cases too.
- For non-PR candidates (say work visa), no other service ontario would give card except this. Even for renewal, only this center shall be visited.
- I took appointment on phone (usually 1-2 week dates you will get), went there & filled a simple form (available on website also), then got a token. After waiting for 15-20 minutes got my turn.
- Needed passport, residence proof (rental lease or specific format letter from bank), work permit or any other document based on type of visa.
- Got temporary letter which can be used until proper health card is delivered at residence (7-10 days).

Expect a line up if you come in the afternoon but employees are efficient and civil. I don't know why people expect fawning service from a government establishment that is busy all day.

I was excited at first that you could now book appointments. However, checking into a 10: 15 appointment to then sit down and waiting another 90 minutes before being served was disappointing.

The Orleans location only took 15 minutes without an appointment… Have realistic expectations while visiting this location!

Malgré un rendez vous pris en ligne à 11h15
J'en suis à 1h30 d attente.
On m explique que les rendez vous passent avant les walkin et que ils fixent des heures de rendez vous sans pouvoir forcément respecter les horaires.
Quel manque de respect pour les gens qui travaillent.
Je constate que le Canada pour les immigrés c est quand même compliqué.
Pour mon permis plus de 5 heures d attente pour l échange du permis.
5h à un poste d agent frontalier pour mon permis de travail.
Vous êtes un pays qui n arrive pas à gérer les formalités administratives.
C est dramatique pour l image du Canada.

Booked an appointment to register my car from Quebec to Ontario. The guy at the counter number 3 is very inefficient, moves slowly, looks tired/burnt out and unfriendly. Gave me a wrong instructions without checking details on the documents provided first thus, I wasn’t able to finish my transaction. Went back after 2 days, asked me to wait in front of his counter while finishing the other customer first, eventually gave me a ticket number and asked me to wait again as he was going to have his break. This is very dissappointing and inconvenient experience, hope not all employees are like him.

The gentleman at reception needs to learn what is customer service and not to be racist and discriminate against clients based on their appearance and cultural background.

Service clients zéro toujours ils cherchent des petits problème pour refuser ton dossier j'ai partie trois fois toujours le même problème malheureusement j'ai pas eu mon service
C'est catastrophique juste perte du temps

Terrible! I booked my appointment for my birth certificate at 4: 30 for the fourth time and they are now telling me that they can’t do birth certificates after 4pm… It is the fourth time I’ve taken off work early and had to Uber here to get this documentation done for them to tell me they can’t do it. I feel like they get a kick out of wasting people time. All I needed was for them to fax a piece of paper and they couldn’t do that! Terrible service!

I made an appointment a week in advance for a Photo Card, I thought I would have to make another apt a different time for my health card renewal but I was able to get both done at once. Because I brought all the proper documentation it only took 20 minutes from check in to exit.
The worker was new & being trained but everything ran smoothly. As long as you have everything you need and come on time it’s very simple.

We have an appointment at 4: 30 pm for Health card, when we come to check in with the black receptionist guy (at the front door, not inside) he asked us some questions but the way he asked was very rude, unprofessional and unfriendly, with no idea why maybe we are Asian? !

#stopasianhate

Had a great experience, everything was smooth and seamless. The wait time was short and the Agent that helped me was quick, professional and accurate. Word of advice, before you walk into these types of establishments do your research online first to ensure that you have all the necessary documentation or call in advance to avoid an uncessecary return visit.

Appointment was at 2, I was in and out before my appointment! I couldn't believe how smooth it was! Very refreshing!

They are well organized, waited only a few minutes for my appointment. However, the staff is not well trained, rude and lacks professionalism. Some of the comments they made were highly inappropriate, e.g. The customer next to me chose not to be an organ donor and the staff member who was servicing me commented that "Some people want to keep their organs as souvenirs".

Avoid going there. Try to use their website for their services. Wait times are usually very long (Average about an hour).

Literally called service Ontario and by instruction was told to come in and pay any potential outstanding fees. & not to make an appointment. Came in and waited in line for 30 minutes during my shift only to be given two useless pieces of paper and told that there "too busy" with "walk ins" and "appointments" did you fail to realize that I'm also a walk in and that you just completely wasted my time for no reason? If I could give less then a 1 star I would. Thanks for absolutely nothing.

Had an appointment at 10: 45am, was out of there at 11: 05. Service from the attendant was the most thorough, efficient service I have received at a service Ontario

Awesome service every time I go there. They are well organised. They can always serve me in French. They always try to help instead of sending me back uselessly for more documents. Never going again to the other points of service where I haven't had much chance so far.

20 min till close during the pandemic. This location was ready to answer our call and help us acquire a patient's OHIP version code. Very prompt service by the male attendant. Both ourselves and the patient are very grateful.

Pas d'attente puisque prise de rdv dans le cadre de la covid contrairement à d'autres centre de service ontario. Locaux sécuritaire et même si l'agent administratif n'a dit ni bonjour ni au revoir et encore moins svp en me demandant mes documents il a été rapide et presque consciencieux. Je suis francophone et il écrit que je demande ma correspondance en anglais. Mais bien sur ça coule de source!
-2 étoiles.
Enfin que demande le peuple si ce n'est que ses dossiers soient enregistrés? La politesse élémentaire que certains visiblement n'ont pas appris ou ont oublié. Bref. Le service a été fait.

It’s a Wild West experience at “ServiceOntario” Laurier and they’ll let the chips fall where they may. Be aware that staff can act on biases instead of facts and query you about unrelated issues to tasks at hand. They can respond to situations that correspond to textbook-taught examples, and any complexity of your case through no fault of your own can result in a denial of service on account of standards and policies written nowhere. Try to avoid this office if possible.

I took about 2 hours. I arrived around 8: 45 and waited in line outside until about 9: 25, at that time I got an appointment for 10AM and waited outside again, my appointment was over by 10: 30. The service was very friendly and the set up made it easy to physically distance.

Went to get a health card as a returning resident of Ontario. COVID social distancing line-ups very clear and luckily did not have a long wait time (went around 11: 30a). Security guards very helpful and friendly; staff also very helpful and friendly. Absolutely no problems (I *did* have all my correct documents and forms filled out upon arriving, which I’m sure helped the experience along, but still). Very impressed with the experience, especially during these stranger COVID times! Thank you to everyone there.

Service was so bad! Each service Ontario in the City was telling me different thing. As a result, I cannot renew my health card on time and have to pay for doctor's appointment.

They made the same mistake while printing my ownership.twice. I didn't notice until later so I went back and they wanted to charge me another $32 to have it printed again. It was their mistake. Why do I need to pay?

The wait can be long, yes, and the number system confusing but the front-line staff is polite and know what they're doing. Of course, pretty much the fastest debit in town.

Oh, the washrooms aren't pretty, but they're kept clean, so bonus for that.

Impatient, disrespectful and unfriendly.so-called ‘service’ Ontario. Even our 6 year old daughter doesn’t like it

5 wickets out of 18 actually open and a minimum 1 hour wait - unacceptable!
Update: when it was finally my turn, I was told I needed a copy of the driver's license to attach to the permit form. Keep in mind, these are the people that issue driver's licenses, so they have the info and picture in their system. Nowhere does it mention this requirement on the form, and the gatekeeper who reviews everything when they give you a number didn't say anything. Wonderful way to waste an hour.

Typical rude cesspool Service Ontario. It really makes me unhappy to have to say that, because there are the odd Service Ontario offices which have friendly staff (usually the less busy ones) or even just passive zombie-like staff, trudging through their work day, but not here. Just smile and nod and get your business done. Or, go to a less busy office. Even showing up with all of my paperwork filled out, everything ready, and trying to be both cheery and professional, they still find a way to give snarky remarks. Thankfully many services are becoming available online.

Some of the employees there don't want help people, like a lady I asked her I want to do small business I need to open a construction company she told me do everything and come back to us? What is everything? She is an old women but she make her self like she don't have experience in her job?
She just lough and say you don't know? Haha I told her yes but why I'm here because I need help! She gave me a website and she told me contact them they will help you
She can tell me the steps what to do for the new business

Very friendly, very well-organized, relatively quick. One just has to follow instructions there to navigate the queues (municipal/provincial/federal services in one place), and also follow instructions in the paperwork to have proper documents ready when you make it to the proper desk. They are not permitted to ignore the rules, so it isn't their fault when they can't be flexible.

Unbelievably rude staff. I don't know why I expect them to be slightly (or even remotely) nicer every time I go. Wishful thinking, I guess. The wait times aren't nearly as bad as the condescending, patronizing tone that most staff seem to resort to. It's like they're intentionally trying to make you feel stupid over some arbitrary thing. There is no room for human error on our part as customers, meanwhile they sneer and make snide remarks or exchange annoyed glances with their coworker on their right/left right in front of you.

I find it ridiculous that these staff members who are gainfully employed in a competitive City of Ottawa job would be unable or unwilling to do the bare minimum when it comes to customer service. Don't work a public-facing job if you can't muster a smile and a modicum of respect for the public that you're serving.

WHERE TO START.

1. Your hours are HORRIBLE. Some of us have jobs and now we need to take time off to make it for the hours you have for stuff we can't do online.

2. Went to get an affidavit signed for a last name change, and we were charged a fee. Few weeks pass, and we call to see what's happening.a) The page filled out by the employee was done incorrectly so they sent it back (never reached us so we also lost the birth certificate with it)
b) We had to do this all over again, but this time the employee we had said we should have never been asked to pay a fee and that having it signed is free.

So basically huge waste of time, they messed up AND we paid a fee that was not even supposed to be a fee.

Very disappointed with this service Ontario. Train your staff better.

The stuff there need extensive training for basic practice and customer service. They seemed confused about some routine paperwork in the computer system. I ended up with waste of 2 work days and coming over and over. $5 paid for their obvious mistakes. And was threatened by the manager to be driven off by security.

THE SERVICE AND THE STAFF VERY BAD I DO NOT KNOW WHY WE PAY OUR TAX FOR STAFF THAT VERY RUDE AND UNPROFSSIONALL

Very bad experience. Very rude staff. They don’t like people who are on open work permit. They will make you to come over and over again. Even they said that, ”you should be thankful to government that you are getting health benefits on work permit. ” I didn’t reply anything but all of us are paying same taxes and money. Finally one lady help me out. That lady was so good. I don’t know who was she but because of her my task has been completed. Otherwise, 3-4 staff members were rudely behaving.

L'attente peut être longue dépendant des jours. Personnel peu sympathique. Les agents ne font aucun effort pour vous assister. Leur manque de volonté est flagrant. Les autres commentaires parlent d'eux meme. Si possible allez dans un autre point de service, vous serez mieux servi.

They make up policies as they go along. For proof of address, I presented my lease. The lease was signed with e-signature as it was 2018. I was told that they didn't accept leases signed electronically. I replied that this policy was not written anywhere. I was given a pamphlet and the clerk circled a paragraph. I read said paragraph - nothing about electronic leases.

He then said I could bring up a bill online on my phone if the bill had my address. This actually is prohibited by their policies (for no reason - my online bill is password protected - anyone can raid my mail) but I complied.

Get with the times.

Very disappointing interaction with the staff and services in last 4 months. Moved to Canada on a temporary assignment and with zero interest in any long term plans in Canada. Had heard that Canada is an immigration friendly country, but this office is doing all they can to make it 180 degrees opposite. Took 4 months for an Ohip card application to get through. Several documents produced by authorised agencies were declined. The approach and the communication was just too arrogant. In case they have this as a strategy to spread Canadian image as ''not a place to go' then they are very succeasful i would say, as this experience will always superceed any other good experience one might get here if he is lucky. Enough stories to share about this office once we leave this place for good.

I have used this location many times. The agents with whom I dealt were knowledgeable and polite.when there as a complicated OHIP issue involving overseas travel, the agent went to get someone who knew more. Best to go early in the morning if possible though. 4 stars instead of 5 because of parking, but it is downtown!