Although the Municipality of Chatham-Kent will continue operating two ServiceOntario locations into 2023, the long-term future of the Chatham site is still being decided.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent has extended its contract with ServiceOntario until Oct. 31 for the Chatham location and until Dec. 31 for the Dresden location.
“These contract extensions allow the municipality to continue working with provincial partners to offer a one stop shopping type of experience for many provincial and municipal services,” the municipality said in a news release.
The municipality has operated the Chatham location since October 2019 after the former operator retired and a replacement wasn’t immediately found. At the time, it was announced this would be a temporary measure until a new private operator was chosen, but the municipality has continued extending the contract.
Representatives from both the municipality and the province had few details about plans for the Chatham location beyond October.
“At this time the municipality and the provincial government will continue to have positive discussions about our current agreed upon contract and we will be able to provide more information at a later time,” Alicia Dewar, acting director of customer service for the municipality, said when asked if they still expect a private operator to take over eventually.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public and Business Delivery, which oversees ServiceOntario, had similar comments.
“ServiceOntario continues to work with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent to explore how the province and municipalities can work together to provide the best experience to Ontarians seeking services from both municipal and provincial governments,” the spokesperson said in an email.
“We will share more information about a longer-term service delivery approach as it becomes available.”