People line up at a Service Canada passport office in Laval, Que., on June 21, 2022. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
Emma Tom finally received her two children’s passports on Friday afternoon, less than 48 hours before the family traveled to the UK to attend a funeral.
The trip almost didn’t happen, even though Tom submitted the applications in April.
It cost the family hundreds of dollars to get the travel documents, not to mention hours in line at the Service Canada office in Gatineau, Que., only to be told earlier this week that their original applications had somehow disappeared .
They don’t care about us in any way.- Emma Tom
“The person on the phone told me they were sorry, but they had no idea where my passport information had gone,” Tom told CBC News on Wednesday. “They had lost it and I had to go fill out all the forms again.”
Expediting this process cost the family roughly three times what they had already spent on the initial applications.
Employment and Social Development Canada is dealing with a huge backlog of passport applications — one that has grown steadily since pandemic travel restrictions were eased.
Tom noted that when she personally visited the Service Canada office on Thursday, only three of the nine kiosks there were staffed.
“They don’t care about us in any way,” she said.
More staff, triage system
Speaking to CBC’s Ottawa Morning on Friday, Carina Gould, minister of families, children and social development, said the department is responding by adding more staff.
“What we’re doing now is hiring and training passport officers because we have hundreds of thousands of applications that are in the system that need to be processed by a passport officer, and they’re the only ones who can do that,” she said.
To help deal with the sudden spike, the department is also introducing a new triage system. At 7 a.m., managers will begin meeting with customers outside of Service Canada offices to determine whose travel needs are most urgent and prioritize cases accordingly.
People planning to visit Service Canada stores to apply for a passport are advised to bring proof of their travel plans with them. Those due to travel within 24 hours will be given the highest priority, followed by those due to depart within 48 hours.
The sorting system will be implemented in Montreal, Quebec City, Gatineau, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and the Toronto area, as well as in Surrey and Richmond, British Columbia
Gould acknowledged that while Tom’s family “did the right thing” by getting their passport applications in early, others applied much closer to their departure date.
She said the new sorting system was being implemented “to ensure that people traveling urgently can get their passports on time, whether that’s 24 hours or 48 hours”.
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