The federal government admitted it was shocked by the large number of passport applications ahead of the summer holidays, when many Canadians still have to line up outside service centers for hours and no one is proposing to return to normal.
At a press briefing on Monday, Minister Karina Gould said Ottawa would like to better plan the recovery of the tourism sector, but the federal government will be in tow when pandemic -related international travel restrictions are abandoned. .
This is not something that was predicted months in advance, Ms. reasoned. Gould. It is a decision made when it is possible. […] We thought we had planned, certainly, for the moment, but we didn’t expect the need to come.
Although he recalled that 1,200 employees had been hired, or were in the process of hiring, to manage the applications that continue to be forwarded to Service Canada, the Minister did not say when the situation would return to normal for citizens.
I will be honest with you and the Canadians, it will last, Ms. acknowledged. Gould. This is why we have fixed deadlines on the website, because with 20 days for email requests, it is not possible right now.
The federal government now recommends that people submit their application 45 or 50 days early.
Strong demand for first passports
If the number of requests for renewal of expired passports increased, mainly the number of requests coming from people without passports surprised the government. These requests take longer to process, as the government does not have any prior data.
To alleviate this problem, the minister explained that the government is looking for better ways to issue their passports to the approximately 300,000 people who obtain their Canadian citizenship each year.
” We review the entire system and all processes to ensure that Canadians no longer experience what they are experiencing. “
Between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, Service Canada issued 363,000 passports, as services were limited to urgent travel cases.
But with the reopening of the world to travelers, demand has exploded. Between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022, nearly 1.3 million passports were issued.
Despite the increase in volume, the government currently says 72% of Canadians who apply receive their passports within 40 business days and 96% of Canadians who apply in person in a special office receive their passports within 10 working days.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
