The Federal Government Is Finally Making Progress With The Passport Canada Backlog
"We are starting to put a dent in the backlog," Minister Gould said.
Person holding Canadian passport in an airport.
The Government of Canada is finally starting to make positive strides in reducing the passport backlog. Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould released a statement on July 15, 2022, notifying Canadians that the feds are "starting to put a dent in the [passport] backlog."
"Canadians deserve access to timely, efficient, and transparent passport delivery services. We're continuing to tackle big challenges in the passport program, and as the summer progresses, thanks to the hard work of Service Canada staff, we continue to see improvements in service delivery," Minister Gould said.
The passport situation across Canada has become quite dire due to an influx of applications that has led to onerous wait times at passport offices across the country.
Travellers with vacations planned soon even began lining up overnight outside Service Canada outlets in order to get their applications processed as soon as possible.
At the moment, those with urgent travel needs are being prioritized, while Canadians who have non-urgent travel plans are being connected with other services, Gould explained.
In order to speed up the process, Minister Karina Gould stated that the federal government has implemented a number of measures including hiring more passport officers, extending Service Canada hours, and carrying out appointments on weekends.
"We continue to increase the workforce, including hiring and training approximately 500 Passport Officers and 319 Citizen Service Officers (CSOs), as well as re-assigning employees from other departments."
Canadians are now being urged not to wait overnight at Service Canada offices as the triage system put in place assesses travellers' needs and ensures each client is being offered a solution based on the urgency of their travel plans.
Lineups are now beginning to shorten outside of larger cities. However, passport offices such as those in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver, to name a few, are still facing delays.
Since April 1, 2022, Service Canada has issued a total of 556,796 passports, according to Gould.
Minister Gould made it clear that the feds are not "out of the woods," just yet, however, progress is being made.
"The more progress we can make on the backlog, the closer we will get to an environment where Canadians can get their passports within our service standards."
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
