Canada Post launches ID verification service
Canada Post has launched a new service offering background checks for their customers. The company has teamed up with Canada’s largest recruitment screening company, BackCheck, to provide the new service.
It will mean Canadians required to verify their identification for new employers, or for other purposes such as securing voluntary work, can drop by their local post office to have it done.
It also means that employers can steer prospective staff toward their local post office for background checks to be carried out.
The service requires applicants to register at the BackCheck website – myBackCheck.com – before visiting a participating Canada Post location, where a retail clerk can witness the customer’s signature before submitting details to BackCheck for verification.
The service is being made available free of charge for applicants, with the companies stating that the in-store application process takes about five minutes to complete.
Canada Post told Post&Parcel this week that the service was another way to add value to its physical network of post offices.
It comes after an upgrade of Canada Post’s computer system across the country, which will allow the company to offer more services of this kind, explained a spokesperson.
Louis O’Brien, Chief Customer Officer at Canada Post, said: “By offering this new service, Canada Post makes it easier and more convenient for Canadians to fulfill the requirements for employment.”
O’Brien said customers could be assured that their personal details would remain protected, since the software used was legally-protected by Canadian postal, privacy and evidence legislation.
According to BackCheck, the background checking service is now being offered at more than 5,000 of Canada Post’s 6,500 post offices around the country.
BackCheck, a division of Checkwell Decision Corporation, has offices in Vancouver and Montreal. Since 1997, it has screened more than 2 million Canadians from more than 5,000 organisations, and also provides screening services in Europe.
The company works with police partners to carry out criminal background checks.
Previous to the link-up with Canada Post, its online myBackCheck.com service had required physical ID verification to be carried out by employer organizations requiring the background checks to be carried out.
BackCheck said offering the option of the Canada Post service would save time for employers and applicants.
Dave Dinesen, the company’s president and CEO, said: “Coupling the Canada Post network of post offices to the myBackCheck.com platform creates a convenient and secure way for individuals to obtain a criminal record check.”
