News Release

New passport office in Whitby, Ontario

Gatineau, Quebec - The city of Whitby is getting a new passport office. It will be located in the Whitby Mall at 1615 Dundas Street East, and will open its doors to the public on January 24th, 2005.

"Passport offices in the Greater Toronto Area issued more than 604,000 passports in fiscal year 2003-2004," said Chief Executive Officer Doreen Steidle. "Our forecasts show another 15 per cent increase for passport services in the Greater Toronto Area during the 2004-2005 fiscal year. The addition of a passport office in Whitby will help deal with that increase in demand."

The Whitby passport office's hours of operation will be from 8:00 - 16:00, Monday to Friday, and from 9:00 - 12:00 on Saturdays. All regular passport services will be available in the Whitby office, while urgent or express services and passport pickup will continue to be available at the Scarborough passport office.

The Passport Office issued more than 2.5 million travel documents nationally in fiscal year 2003-2004, and expects to issue close to 3 million passports this fiscal year. There are now 32 passport offices across Canada.

The Passport Office of Canada is a Special Operating Agency of Foreign Affairs Canada. Its mission is to facilitate travel for Canadians by delivering internationally respected travel documents that meet the highest security standards in the world.

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