Faced with endless delays in obtaining a passport, passport offices give out appointment tickets with a specific time to reduce queues. However, the capacity of some service points is already exceeded.
Since 7 a.m., tickets have been distributed indicating a time when each visitor must return to the Service Canada offices according to their specific needs, the renewal or creation of a passport, for example.
Around 9 a.m. at Complexe Guy-Favreau, a civil servant had to announce what many feared: no one will be accepted today and we have to come back tomorrow.
Hundreds of people still form a line that spans two sides of the building.
Several took a flight today and did not get their passports. Paradoxically, others have a flight tomorrow and managed to get an appointment.
Those who will have to leave the country in less than 48 hours can be served on timehad yet promised the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, responsible for the passport file, Karina Gould.
Overflows were observed at Complexe Guy-Favreau as people tried to move forward without respecting the order of arrival. Under the supervision of the police, the queue seems to be managed by citizens outside the building. No Service Canada employee has come out to assess the urgency of the cases.
Same story in Laval, where the exasperation is palpable in front of the offices of Service Canada. The distribution of meeting tickets was supposed to start at 7 a.m., but was pushed back about an hour due to a setback.
Among the hundreds of people in line, a healthcare worker fears she may have to cancel her vacation plans. It’s been two years since the Government of Quebec has cut off our vacations. There I can leave, but it’s the passport [qui m’en empêche] and my flight is tonightshe says.
Another wants to end a wait that has lasted since Sunday afternoon at 5 a.m. We’ve been sleeping here for three nights and no one answers us.
It is unacceptable in 2022 in Canada that citizens are treated like thislaments another traveler.
Police were on the scene for fear that tempers were running high. Their presence helped maintain calm, according to Robert, a traveler who wants passports for his two daughters. They did an impeccable job […] They give information. Passport Canada officers do not have megaphones and [les policiers] give information that people don’t hear.
In search of solutions
The meeting ticket system was to have been in place since Monday, Minister Gould had promised the Telejournal 18 htuesday.
Last week, the Minister specified that 1,200 employees had been hired, or were in the process of being hired, to manage the requests that continue to be sent to Service Canada. There was also talk of borrowing some 200 employees from the Canada Revenue Agency, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Global Affairs Canada.
Presumably, Ottawa’s efforts were not enough to resolve the passport crisis. Despite their long wait, some travelers see their vacation plans compromised.
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
