Lines are always long in front of Service Canada offices to obtain a passport. In the greater Montreal area, for example, the distribution of coupons, the first step before an appointment to process an application, is done in dribs and drabs, to the chagrin of citizens who have sometimes camped outside the office doors. federal.
Questioned on Wednesday in the Commons, the minister responsible for the file, Karina Gould, said she hoped that this appointment system would relieve the pressure on service centers in the metropolitan area.
The situation is such, in fact, that residents of Greater Montreal have traveled to Service Canada offices elsewhere in the country to try to obtain the precious document allowing them to travel. This is the case in Ottawa, or in New Brunswick, where a Montrealer managed to get a passport issued in three hours.
No recourse without special condition
Faced with the possibility of not obtaining a passport in time, do travelers have any recourse if they have already purchased a plane ticket?
According to Éric Boissonneault, vice-president of the Association of Travel Agents of Quebec (AAVQ), if you don’t have a flexibility condition that was purchased with your travel agent or with your airline, unfortunately not getting your passport is not a cancellation condition of a flight.
Acknowledging that this is an answer heartbreakMr. Boissonneault pointed out, in an interview on RDI, that this state of affairs testified to the urgent of the current situation.
People are a bit exhausted; they’re going to lose their money if they don’t have that flexibility condition.
You know, if we managed our private companies the way Service Canada manages its customer service… There is no answer, in factadded Mr. Boissonneault.
And if you don’t have a passport and want to leave in the short term, the vice-president of the AAVQ recommends postponing a trip for one or two months. unless it’s a family emergency.
” Because the only way [d’avoir un passeport]is to line up as we have seen and wait the day before departure… Not everyone can afford 30 hours of camping at the door of Service Canada. “
coupons, an urban legend
Queued for at least 24 hours to try to obtain a passport for a departure on Thursday, Véronique Bugeaud deplores the lack of information from Service Canada employees.
Nothing moves; we have no informationshe said in an interview with All one morningon HERE Premiere.
I’m starting to believe that coupons [de rendez-vous] are an urban legend! I’ve seen all kinds of things over the past two days. Yesterday, at the busiest, we were 400 to 500 people in Laval. Right now, I’m about 160th in line…
Mrs. Bugeaud also assured that people waiting for their passport try to listen to instructions; first, we are told that we must show up within 48 hours of departure, then we are informed that we are prioritizing the 24 hours.
We shouldn’t see these kinds of scenes in Canada; we are deprived of a fundamental right, we are taken hostage, literallyadded Ms. Bugeaud, who said that this was her third attempt to obtain a passport.
Source: Radio-Canada