Passport backlog means long lines, change of summer plans for many travellers

Many Canadians are hoping to get their travel fix this summer after more than two years of pandemic restrictions, but a backlog in passport processing times could get in the way of some vacation plans.

Officials have been bracing for a rise in passport demand as COVID-19 travel restrictions gradually relaxed and Service Canada says 600 new employees were hired to sort through the surge in applications.

Last month, the agency reopened all passport locations and confirmed there had been more than a 350 per cent increase in passports processed over the last year. There were 363,000 passports issued between the onset of the pandemic in April 2020 until March 2021, and that number jumped to 1,273,000 for the following year.

“The fact of the matter is that while we were anticipating increased volume, this massive surge in demand has outpaced forecasts and outstripped capacity,” Families, Children and Social Development Minister Karina Gould told a parliamentary committee on May 30.

“We know many people have been put in very difficult circumstances. And that is why I have directed officials to work as hard as possible to meet the demand.”

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Nearly 500,000 applications have been received in March and April of this year. The agency says they were able to process 317,000 of the applications since April.

They advise that people who plan to travel within the next month have been given priority and pushed to the front of the queue.

A spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada says 96 per cent of individuals who submit an application in-person will receive a passport within 10 business days. It is estimated that 75 per cent who apply in any manner will get their document within 40 business days.

Service Canada advised last month that the renewal process for some applicants had been simplified, people no longer need to provide original documents or a guarantor. Individuals still need two passport pictures, two references, a completed application form and application fees in order to renew.

The agency says they are fielding over 200,000 calls per day, compared to 5,000 before the pandemic. It is estimated that approximately four million Canadians will apply for a new passport in 2022 and 2023.

You can find information about renewing or applying for an adult passport here ➡️https://t.co/ZjgZxvrK6j pic.twitter.com/aSOqJ7ZwK7

— Service Canada (@ServiceCanada_E) June 7, 2022

Some travellers could be forced to alter vacation plans

Kelly Potter Scott was hoping to take her 10-year-old daughter to Upstate New York in a couple of weeks and spent hours waiting in line at a Toronto passport office.

But as she tells The Canadian Press, it’s still not known if her daughter will have her passport in time.

“If we don’t get it, my daughter just won’t be able to come with us, which will be unfortunate,” she said. “Fingers crossed, we get it in time.”

Nadia Elsayed in Oakville said she mailed her young daughter’s application in early April, ahead of a travel date in late May.

As that date came and went she arranged to have the application sent to a passport office in Mississauga. Officials told her they would aim to have the document ready two days before another trip to the U.S. in June.

“It still feels a little bit up in the air, to be honest,” she said. “It just feels like we’re kind of hanging on and just hoping that things turn out.”

Feds working to deal with airport delays, flight cancellations

It’s not just passport delays that are slowing down travel for Canadians, a number of airports in the country have experienced long lines and flight cancellations as regular travel habits resume.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) has hired over 850 new screening agents in recent weeks to help deal with the delays and get passengers to their gates faster.

Speaking with reporters on his way to a weekly Liberal caucus meeting, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the federal government is working on new measures to help ease delays at major airports, adding that a “similar phenomenon” is happening worldwide.

The minister says working groups that include airports, airlines, public health and federal officials are meeting up to three times a week to try and find solutions.

The Conservatives have been calling on the government to lift travel restrictions, which require anyone returning from outside the country to confirm their vaccination status, and end the use of the ArriveCan app and stop random COVID-19 testing at airports.

The Canadian Airports Council issued a statement on Monday once again calling for an end to vaccination mandates for passengers and aviation staff, saying “there is now a different standard” for those groups than for other Canadians.

With files from The Canadian Press and CityNews Parliament Hill reporter Cormac Mac Sweeney