Processing times in Canadian passport offices have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development Karina Gould has proudly announced that the backlog with passport processing has been nearly cleared, as 98 percent of the application backlog has been processed.
Subsequently, turnaround times in all passport offices are back to their normal pre-pandemic levels. According to a press release from Gould’s office, Service Canada has already issued more than two million passports since April 2022 – with an estimated additional one and a half million expected to be released by the end of this fiscal year.
Less than a week after the first statement, Passport Canada announced that it had finally achieved pre-pandemic processing times — a regular 20 business days for those who applied by mail or Service Canada locations, and 10 business days for those who applied in person.
Canadian passport application backlog
As the COVID-19 travel restrictions for Canada were relaxed, there was an increase in travel and a surge in demand for new passports. As a result, massive queues at Service Canada offices this summer as people tried to beat the rush to apply for, renew, or pick up the essential piece of travel documents led some to cancel plans and suffer travel hassles.
Because of the delays, the federal government’s ability to provide services to Canadians had been questioned.
According to the current process, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould stated on Tuesday, those who applied for passports after October 3, 2022, faced pre-pandemic processing times, while additional staff continues to work on the smaller number of unfinished “complex” applications from the months prior to actually due to issues with eligibility, security, or child custody.
Applicants can now request their application to be expedited without having to provide proof of imminent travel. For individuals who applied before October 3, the wait time to receive their passports still varies.
Once again regretting the “difficult situation,” Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development Karina Gould thanked Canadians for their “admirable patience” and assured them that they should be able to obtain their passports on time if everything is correct with their application.
For the near future, according to Gould, ESDC will keep hiring the extra staff it recruited to manage the surge in applications because she predicts that the number of applicants will remain high and that the government will keep processing more than 3.5 million passports this year. For example, in July, the first passports with 10-year expiration dates will need to be renewed.
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