The federal government would be “on the right track” to eliminate delays and long lines at passport offices for good, says the minister responsible, Karina Gould, who advises all the same to avoid the service by the job.
“If possible, the best advice for people is really to go to a passport office, or a Service Canada office [qui offre ce service] if it’s for a trip in the next 45 days,” said Karina Gould, in an interview with To have to on the sidelines of an ad in Trois-Rivières, Mauricie.
The Minister of Families, Children and Social Development announced on Wednesday that the local Service Canada office would now be able to offer on-site passport issuance service, in 10 working days, like three other similar offices across the country. The staff is now trained and the place is equipped with special printers capable of producing the official document.
“I hope, with this announcement, that we will see a reduction in the pressure on the offices of Montreal and Quebec City,” she explains.
Proof of travel within 45 days is still required to use this “express” service, such as a plane ticket or a hotel reservation. The minister says she has been made aware of anecdotal cases of tampering with proof of travel to secure a passport, but she is adamant “it is not necessary”.
In June, The duty reported that an unofficial instruction required proof of departure within 24 to 48 hours for the issuance of a passport in certain offices in the Montreal area. The rule, missing from the federal government’s website, was written on a homemade sheet of paper hung at the entrance to the offices, creating confusion and distress among travelers.
Minister Gould then made the dubious assertion in the House that “people can report 45 days before travelling” to the passport office as usual.
busy summer
The situation at passport offices in June cost Karina Gould summer vacation, who says she spent the hot season doing a thorough review of the entire administrative system.
One of the main diagnoses is the inefficiency of passport applications sent by post. Before the pandemic, approximately 80% of applications were filed in person at a passport office. In February 2022, the proportion was reversed: 80% of requests were made by mail. “Right now it’s about 50-50,” the minister now estimates.
“It’s not just that we receive a lot of requests by mail, but it’s that we receive a lot of them with errors. Someone has to do the checking, or the photos are not correct, or some other errors, so it takes more time. »
Minister Gould also argues that the only acute problem of waiting for June in offices in the Montreal region is attributable to the National Day holiday, which would have caused a tidal wave of requests at the same time.
Between April and June, Ottawa received more than 260,000 passport applications each month. Passport offices were only able to process half of these applications in April. A gradual improvement in the volume of files processed means that the administration is now able to process nearly 90% of the volume of requests received.
good information
Following reports from the To have to and other media, Employment and Social Development Canada has changed its website to give the public the facts,” says Karine Gould.
“If you are in Montreal and you are looking for a passport office, the information that is there will be geographically targeted, so it will give local information,” she says. One of the things for me that is super important is communicating with people. Make sure to give the right information. »
The Minister also denies having minimized the situation of chaos that prevailed in the passport offices in June, when she and her department repeated the incorrect information posted on the website.
“It was different, on the ground, the situation in different places. In Montreal, it was unique […] When we answer in the House, when I do national interviews, we do answers for the whole country. »
Minister Gould maintains that the withdrawal service within 45 days of departure was still offered until a week before the feast of Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Numerous testimonies collected by The duty from last June 9 in fact bear witness to a problem prior to that date.
The federal government is expected to announce soon that other Service Canada offices will be equipped to issue passports. Up to 96% of inquiries filed in person receive a response within 10 business days.