Staffing shortages, passport and Nexus backlogs: What’s being done to fix travel delays?

As pandemic restrictions affecting travellers gradually come to an end, Canadians hoping to travel abroad continue to face barriers that include delays getting key documents, and going through airport security.

Airport screeners across the country are now reportedly being offered a $200 a week bonus from their union if they don’t take time off this summer — including sick days. The move comes amid labour shortages and terrible lineups and delays at airports nationwide.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) tells the Toronto Star the financial incentive is to ensure adequate resourcing at some airports during the busy summer travel season.

“The incentive program involves offering screening personnel additional compensation over and above their regular wages — for exemplary attendance through the summer,” CATSA spokesperson Suzanne Perseo tells the Star. “CATSA worked collaboratively with each screening contractor to launch the attendance incentive program.”

The president of one of the unions, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents around 4,000 airport security workers in B.C. and Ontario says it requires perfect attendance in order to receive the weekly bonus, as well as potential for a $500 monthly bonus.

CATSA has hired over 850 new screening agents in recent weeks to help deal with delays and get passengers to their gates faster.

According to multiple reports, the Trudeau government will announce Tuesday that it will be suspending vaccine mandates for domestic travel on planes and trains, as well as outbound flights overseas.

Several industry groups have been calling for an end to vaccine mandates for passengers and airport employees, arguing that more workers could be on the job if restriction were lifted.

Feds posting passport wait times online

Passport offices continue to work through a growing number of applications and wait times are now being posted on the federal government’s website.

The lineup times for visits to passport offices will be updated three times a day, to better help people plan.

Karina Gould, minister of families, children and social development, says those long wait times are her top priority, but she cannot say when things may return to normal.

“I completely understand the frustration that Canadians are facing right now,” Gould says.

She adds in addition to opening up more processing hubs, and launching an online appointment booking process, they will be hiring even more staff to deal with the backlog.

The federal government says 72 per cent of Canadians who apply for a passport in any manner will get it within 40 business days, while 96 per cent of people who submit their application in person will get their passport within 10 business days.

More than 300,000 waiting to renew Nexus cards

Even would-be Nexus cardholders hoping to skip long lines at the airport are facing delays getting approved.

More than 333,000 Canadians are now in the cue to renew their Nexus cards, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) tells the CBC.

Nexus allows pre-approved Canadians to bypass some of the longer delays at airports by using separate faster lines when travelling to and from the U.S.

The American agency reopened its Nexus enrollment centres for applicant interviews on April 19, but centres in Canada remain closed after shuttering in March 2020.

The resulting backlog means some Nexus members are struggling to book sit-downs before their cards expire, as Canadian residents hoping to renew their status can only schedule interviews in fewer than a dozen border community offices.

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With files from The Canadian Press