Passports: Half a Million Requests in Two Months!

Travel recovery exploded as the epidemic slowed. Millions of Canadians have been struggling to obtain their passports over the past few weeks due to extraordinary demand.

Mario Dumont revolved around the question in his column on Tuesday.

An explosion of requests

– In 2019-2020: 2.3 million requests were made

– 2020-2121 (Pandemic): 360,000 requests

– 2021-2022 (ending March 31): 1.3 million

– Spring 2022: 500,000 requests in just two months

– In April 2022, Service Canada stated that 133,599 passports had been delivered.

Delays are therefore observed and delays accumulate for passengers.

Expected delay

– Service Canada confirms current delays to 35 working days (hence 7 weeks, approximately two months).

– According to citizen testimony, people have been waiting for more than two months.

Where is my request?

– It is difficult to know where the request was made.

– Telephone lines are congested. Talking to someone is hard, if not impossible.

– Some people talk about waiting too long. Sometimes it is even impossible to queue or get a line on the telephone.

– The number of calls is 40 times higher.

Service Canada is taking action

– 500 employees were hired as per the demand.

– Despite some improvements, the Kovid measures do not allow the pre-epidemic pace to continue.

Things?

– Go ahead!

– I’m getting there. If you have to travel by plane within 24 hours and you do not have your passport, it is possible to get one urgently. The request will only be accepted if your flight is less than 24 hours away.

– On all Service Canada sites, they suggest that they provide you with a passport if your flight is less than 48 hours, but on land it is longer than 24 hours.

– It is impossible to attend in person at the passport office. You must have an appointment.

Anywhere on the planet

– The problem is the same anywhere on the planet.

– United Kingdom: 10 week waiting period to obtain a passport.

– France: Two to three months depending on the region.

*** See Mario Dumont’s column in the video above. ***