I hate to break it to you but ServiceOntario was always private. The vast majority of serviceontario locations were in effect small businesses with one person designated as the government agent. Been that way for at least 50 years. Those people working at those offices are not government employees, not members of a union and most certainly not well paid. They are just employees of a small business, no different than someone that works at a bar or a restaurant, other than having to know a lot of government rules and processes.

So what the government is doing is corpratizing what used to be a moderately profitable small business.

I should also add that those small business owners had to pay all the costs of the business including the initial renovations to meet government requirements. So that definitely is a case of corporate welfare for Staples.

Source: I worked at various Service Ontario locations before it was branded that way, for 15 years or so.