People line up in front of the Montreal Passport Office on June 22. Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press
Unions representing workers at Passport Canada and Service Canada centers across the country say they have asked the federal government to increase staff in anticipation of a summer surge in passport applications and renewals, which have now taken place, leading to congestion. passport services.
“It’s a disaster. Our workers are verbally harassed and psychologically abused by angry mobs. I believe this leap was completely predictable, “said Kevin King, national president of the Union of National Employees, which represents about 800 passport officers and is part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
“We knew there would be significant pressure on resources we didn’t have. So even more than a year ago, we started requiring the employer to hire more passport officers. “
Canadians are now finding that the influx of applications is significantly extending the waiting time for a passport service at a time when many are preparing to embark on a trip they had previously postponed during the pandemic. Across the country, disappointment is boiling over as potential passengers camp at passport offices overnight, hoping to be first in line to check their applications. Police were called to Montreal this week as nerves erupted over a long wait and a queue at a passport office.
The passport fiasco is the result of systemic and behavioral factors.
In the first year of the pandemic between As of April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, there were only 363,000 passport applications, according to data provided by Canada for Employment and Social Development. The following year, their number rose to 1,273,000.
But in April 2022, with pandemic restrictions declining, the number of passport applications began to grow. In the weeks since April 1 this year, the government has already received just under half of last year’s total: 542,000 applications, according to the EDSC.
“Only 20% of the normal volume of passports was received during the first two years of the pandemic,” said a briefing provided by ESDC.
The number of Canadians traveling abroad has increased significantly since last spring. The latest Statistics from Canada data show that the number of Canadian return flights increased to 549,300 in March. 2022, from just 18,900 in the same month last year, when most of the country was still under severe pandemic restrictions.
And that March 2022 figure doesn’t even reflect the latest easing of travel restrictions. The United States removed testing requirements for international visitors just two weeks ago, while Canada relaxed testing requirements for incoming and returning passengers in late April.
“People seem to let their passports run out during the pandemic, and then the southern border suddenly opens up, testing requirements are raised and all these people want to travel,” Mr King said.
The aggravation of the backlog is the fact that many Canadians who applied for 10-year passports when the documents were first introduced in 2013 are facing impending expiration dates. (Previously, the passport was valid for five years.) Most countries require a validity of at least six months for an international travel passport.
“We held meetings with the employer last year, asking them what the plan would be with the 10-year renewal of the passport. We asked them if they would increase the number of sites or extend their working hours. And we really weren’t presented with a plan, “said Crystal Warner, national executive vice president of the Canadian Employment and Immigration Union, who represents Service Canada workers.
Dozens of people waited one night in front of the passport office in Montreal, hoping to get a meeting, and some say they expect to spend another night outside. In Toronto, the process was still slow, but moving faster.
The Canadian press
The process of renewing passports or applying for new passports involves two departments: Service Canada and Passport Canada. Workers in both departments are employees of ESDC Canada, a federal ministry. There are only 36 Passport Canada offices nationwide, but Service Canada has passport service counters in more than 300 centers.
According to Ms. Warner, Service Canada employees can handle the acceptance of passport applications, but the actual verification, preparation and printing of passports is done by certain Passport Canada passport officers. Part of the problem at the moment, according to the two union leaders, is that there are not enough passport officers. Mr King said his union wanted 400 of them to be hired.
In a statement, ESDC said that before the pandemic, there were 1,500 staff members at Service Canada and Passport Canada, and that the government hired 600 additional workers in early 2022 specifically to process passports. The ministry said it plans to start hiring an additional 600 staff in the coming weeks, also for passport processing. The statement does not specify whether “passport processing” means admission or whether it relates to inspection and production.
Both union leaders said they did not know where the 600 new employees ESDC said it had hired in early 2022 worked. “Are they just additional front-line staff to help with admissions? If so, which specific offices? “Mr. King asked.” We need national passport officers with at least 12 weeks of training to handle these very secure travel documents. “
The government has introduced an estimated timeout system on the ESDC website. Now, before arriving at the passport office, the candidate can see how long he will have to wait to talk to a passport officer. As of Wednesday morning, the waiting time at a number of passport offices in Toronto and Ottawa was approximately six to seven hours.
The fact that many Canadians have chosen to mail documents to renew their passports during the pandemic has also contributed to the long waiting time, according to Ms. Warner. “Because people didn’t get an answer, they chose to go to places in person,” she said.
As for whether telecommuting and vaccine mandates have contributed to the system’s inefficiency, both unions and the government say these factors have been insignificant. According to the ESDC, only 299 employees – or about 1% of the ministry’s workforce – have been put on unpaid leave because they have not been vaccinated.
The Union of National Employees estimates that these backlogs will continue over the next six months as new staff begin training and the volume of passport renewals continues to accumulate before the first 10-year passport renewal period.
“It’s not just the story of the week. It will continue to get worse, “Mr King said.
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