Straight forward visit with the citizenship officials this morning. Everyone was calm and…read morecourteous. Instructions were clear. The line to enter started forming early; once the doors were open people continued to line up for the elevator to the second floor. Tip: there is a stairwell to the right once you enter which will get you to the second floor faster than the elevator. Also, no food or drinks are allowed in the waiting room or testing room. You can bring personal items however, to stow under your seat.

The officer who took our case was super nice and efficient. So were the test admin people. Study…read morehard and you will pass! However, The commissaire who gave all the info to walk ins was a tall, white haired man with a mustache. He was one of the rudest people I have ever seen, telling people off while pointing his finger, telling people where to sit being rude, being impatient with people asking questions about where to drink water, giving out wrong information etc. He wasnt rude to us, but to so many people for 2 hs we were there. It was a happy day but his bad vibe kind of soured the experience a bit. Honestly such a paradox since in Canada we try to be corteous to each other. Fingers crossed when its our Oath ceremony, or your turn to take the test he wont be there.. PS also take a water bottle, no water fountain while you wait

Not sure what to say about Service Canada. Precovid, it was not so bad. I showed up and I saw a…read morelong long long line up out the door. I was told that if you are standing here, it will take 4+ hours and given the time I showed up, I will very likely not make it inside before the close. Service Canada has became so chaotic now. I don't recommend showing up unless you really needed to get an issue resolved in 2022. I will wait till all the Covid backlogs are done before going back maybe 2023 or 2024. My issue is an error that they made and can be corrected anytime. If you ask me why did I not mail my issue in? Did that and it was lost.

Every Service Canada location could learn a thing from the winners at the Kingsway location in…read moreVancouver BC. Specifically Loariane, Angie, Bupinder. These folks went above and beyond and their energy level especially first thing in the moment makes me a proud Canadian served by a strong governmen. Well done!

As for dealing with government and city employees these have to be some of the friendliest people I…read morehave ever have the pleasure of dealing with. They're patient, and extremely helpful. I wish more customer service related employee behaved in such a manor giving a superior customer / client experience. It is rare to see this in this day and age especially in Vancouver, especially in Government employee's!

Worst experience of any government agency in a long time! Brought my aging mother from Alberta for…read moreher appointment to renew her Dutch passport. A note on the door said they were closed for the day. No apologies or anything on the door and nobody to contact! I helped my mother back to the vehicle with her walker. She won't be able to return anytime soon. Just wasted $300+ for her flight from Edmonton, parking in Vancouver, passport photo and pre-paid UPS envelope!

Showed up here due to a CPP issues. I was surprised on the wait. Holy Moly 4 hours. It was crazy…read more After waiting for 30 min, I decided to walk in and ask if I can just drop my document instead of waiting. I went inside and I found a drop box. They should have put a sign about a drop box inside instead of having people waiting in line for no reason. I was in the line for 30 mins and it didn't even move an inch. I looked inside and there were only 2 people working and over 30 parties waiting. I was talking to a lady and apparently, she was at the Service Canada the day before and she showed up at 1pm and they cut the line at 4 pm. People were angry according to her. Also note that no free parking here. This was crazy. I feel that more signage could make it more clear that there is a drop box available. They don't take emails or fax. I called the lady and said the other option is to mail the documents in. Unfortunately, they lost my documents. I am not sure if it arrived and it wasn't processed or it was actually lost by mail or lost by them. It is so disorganized here. I can see lots of unhappy people. There used to be a receptionist but I guess they laid the receptionist off. Having the receptionist would be helpful because they can either make you wait till you turn by giving you a ticket or receiving documents. This was so unproductive.

Really good experience. Came here at 8:50 and was done with my new SIN application after about 25…read moreminutes. The employees were very kind and the procedure was easy. Recommend going there

I am very thankful to Olivia from the Vancouver office who helped me with my visa application…read more Everyone from this office is so helpful and friendly. Thank you!

Fantastic visa service. I made appointment for 10 am and was out of there at 10:10 am . Young lady…read moreprocessed my 2 applications efficiently after getting me to get full page copies of our passports (I brought half-page copies). Visas will be ready in 3 days. I got India visas at the Surrey visa service and it was a nightmare! Lined up at 11:30 am and did not finish application until 3:45 pm. Paid $30 per visa to get courier return service because I did not want to go through this again. Surrey office was dingy, crowded, and stuffy. Other Visa Service centers can certainly learn from China Visa Services.

It was a breeze to our surprise. Walked in without appointment and seen in 15 min. All set.read more

If you absolutely positutely don't need to physically go to a service canada establishment don't…read moresort yourself out online. I was there fairly early in the am and by then the main room was full. So I had to sit in the secondary waiting room. Secondary waiting room you may be thinking what's that ? Let me tell you, it's the room you wait in before you can get in the line to see the help desk attendant. So they can guide you with the proper documentation for waiting in the main waiting room to see someone. I was there a total of 5hrs so I could get a print out of my social security number on a government letterhead which took 10 min. They don't even issue a physical card ( budget cuts I'm assuming) but a piece of paper. Needless to say I'm not impressed at all.

* Still a fan - and now more convenient with a downtown location for updates! *…read more I've been a huge fan of the NEXUS program (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/nexus-enrolment-centre-richmond#hrid:qdn9LXEk80gSprIm2Mo_lw) since back when it was called CanPassAir (what a terrible name that was!) and INSPass. The new streamlined NEXUS program has been working wonderfully letting me: - Skip various lines at all major Canadian airports (US Immigration, Canadian Immigration, the pre-duty free line, the security line, etc.). Those iris scans are still amazing to me - you just walk up to the machine, stare into the camera, and it figures out who you are like something from a science fiction movie! - Skip the long car line ups at the US border (going in both directions) (you have to scan your card at the land crossings) - Skip the U.S. immigration lines at most major US airports through the new free Global Entry add-on (what a dream at places like JFK, LAX, O'hare, DFW, etc.) (you have to scan your passport at the US airports) I'm a huge fan! One of the rules of this trusted traveler program is that you have to keep all of your travel documents and ID up to date with the NEXUS folks (seems fair to me). The location at the Vancouver airport (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/nexus-enrolment-centre-richmond#hrid:qdn9LXEk80gSprIm2Mo_lw) is always convenient with 7 days service and no appointment necessary to update your documentation. But recently after getting some updated ID I didn't want to head down to the airport and instead I went to this downtown Vancouver location. Apparently normally you have to do ID updates between 8am and 10am at this location. But I didn't know that, and was there in the afternoon. The officials were incredibly friendly and helpful and said, "No worries. We can do it for you now. Just remember in the future." Now THAT is the type of customer service I wish all government agencies (and businesses for that matter) would provide! I continue to be a huge fan of this wonderful program. It makes all of the modern hassles of travel seem a lot more manageable. This is seriously the BEST $10/year I have ever spent. Yes, it is only $10/year. Crazy!

Why the grump, gramps? I wasn't expecting to be met with…read moresuch a cold attitude when coming in here with a simple question. All of the representatives were sitting idly at their kiosks, and there were no other customers in there except for me, so I chose the most senior looking person (no reason) to attend to my question. I asked, "How do I update my credit card information with the Nexus program? The website doesn't have a way to do this." This guy stared me down and gave me the most blunt answers possible, without actually revealing the answer. He asked for my information, sighed, and then handed me a sticky note with the correct information already printed on it. Why does it have to be so tough to not act so tough?

Very nice upgrade from the older city hall across the street, sort of, a bit north of it, inside…read morethe Vancity building. Spacious ground level huge office, with a numbered display and PA system while you wait on the side with lots of seats. Reminds me of a motor vehicle branch, but I digress. Finally remembered to write a review for my annual renew, especially for independent business contractors that need to drive a lot, especially to DT, you will thank me for this and add me as a fan lol. Here's how I'm going to sell this: do you want to park for free in DT for 30 min in any alley or on the main streets (ie. Burrard, Robson, etc.), for just $25?! I could probably sell thousands of these if I worked here lol. Of course, only at signs with commercial parking. And before the general public gets on the bandwagon, the lady here photocopies your car insurance (has to be commercial coverage, check), verifies your car does has company signage (check again), and also do loading/unloading (check once more). Plus, for any parking meter, you can park til 10:30am for free, as those meters kick in at 9am. Nice yellow decal to put by your rear view mirror, with a numbered license of course.

Pleasantly surprised - all good for my visit to get a business license. Fast, professional,…read moreknowledgeable service. Reasonable wait times. Got through everything, including a number of extra questions, smoothly and without much wait time. Was also happily surprised that the cost is prorated for time of year (I was told this does not happen when I called 311).