The federal government admits it was taken aback by the large number of passport applications ahead of the summer holidays, when many Canadians still have to queue outside service centers for hours and that nothing suggests a return to normal.
Posted at 6:30 p.m.
In a press briefing on Monday, Families Minister Karina Gould said that Ottawa would have liked to better plan the recovery of the tourism sector, but that the federal government was lagging behind when international travel restrictions linked to the pandemic would be abandoned.
“It’s not something that was predictable months in advance, justified Mme Gould. It was a decision that was made when it was possible. […] We thought that we had planned, precisely, for this moment, but we did not expect the demand that came. »
Although she recalled that 1,200 employees have been hired, or are in the process of being hired, to manage the requests that continue to be forwarded to Service Canada, the Minister was unable to mention when the situation will return to normal for citizens.
“I’m going to be honest with you and with Canadians, it’s going to take time,” Ms.me Gould. This is why we have adjusted the deadlines on the website, because at 20 days for email requests, this is not possible at the moment. »
The federal government now recommends that people send their request “45 or 50 days” in advance.
While the number of renewal requests for expired passports has increased, it is above all the number of requests from people who did not have a passport that surprised the government. These requests take longer to process, since the government does not have any data in advance.
To minimize this problem, the minister explained that the government is looking for more efficient ways to give their passports to the approximately 300,000 people who obtain their Canadian citizenship each year.
“We are reviewing the whole system and all the processes to ensure that Canadians no longer experience what they are experiencing,” assured Ms.me Gould.
Between 1er April 2020 and March 31, 2021, Service Canada issued 363,000 passports as services were limited to urgent travel cases.
But with the world reopening to travellers, demand has exploded. Between 1er April 2021 and March 31, 2022, nearly 1.3 million passports have been issued.
Despite the increase in volume, the government currently claims that 72% of Canadians who apply receive their passports within 40 business days and 96% of Canadians who apply in person at a specialized office receive their passports within 10 working days.