
With lengthy delays for Canadians in search of to get a new or renewed passport, Provider Canada suggests it is upped staffing at passport support counters to expedite processing ahead of the summer time travel period. But, travellers say they’re still facing extensive wait instances.

The company declared on Tuesday that due to the fact the week of May 9, all passport provider counters that had been shut thanks to COVID-19 have been reopened, marking a 40 for every cent raise in potential.

“Capacity in waiting around rooms has also been considerably expanded, and Services Canada has also taken added steps to simplify and expedite passport processing,” the agency explained in a information release.

Also, Service Canada stated it had employed 600 new workforce for processing of passport apps and opened up additional committed passport counters at more than 300 centres.

But for many travellers, these new measures have brought little aid to the discouraging delays.

Matheus Caminha is just one the Canadians who experienced resorted to tenting outside a Service Canada workplace in buy to get a new passport for his newborn daughter ahead of their flight on Saturday. He had been waiting around outside the house the Company Canada office in Surrey, B.C. considering the fact that midnight on Wednesday in a line that stretches around the building and throughout the parking whole lot, up to the sidewalk.

“From what we can see, (these actions) did not change considerably. I do not believe you will find a lot more folks doing the job today. Yesterday, they reported that there will only be two men and women functioning and gave the justification that people today referred to as in ill,” he informed CTVNews.ca over the telephone on Thursday morning when he was even now waiting around in line.

He had initially sent his daughter’s application by mail at the commencing of March, two months ahead of their excursion abroad in May well. But his daughter’s passport couldn’t be processed in time, which meant that he experienced to push their vacation again and try to send an expedited application in human being.

“I considered two months would be more than enough, but it was not the situation,” he stated.

On the other aspect of the counter, the union representing passport staff at Company Canada states it is also feeling the disappointment as extensive delays build a “hostile doing work environment” for staff members.

“Long lines and incorrect data about hold out moments is disheartening clients and has the likely to create a risky function natural environment for Provider Canada employees,” explained Kevin King, nationwide president of the Union of Nationwide Employees, in a news launch on Thursday. “We count on to see a concrete prepare from the govt to relieve wait around moments and to protect the security of workers and customers in the course of this unparalleled period of time.”

Between April 2020 and March 2021, Assistance Canada claims it issued 363,000 passports. But now that Canada and other countries have eased pandemic vacation limits, the time period of April 2021 to March 2022 noticed more than 1,273,000 passports issued. April 2022 by itself observed 261,000 passport purposes, in contrast to just 69,000 the identical last 12 months.

“Our teams are presently responding to a considerable surge in desire for passports, doing the job difficult to keep our assistance requirements and get Canadians the files they want to journey,” Lori MacDonald, main operating officer of Company Canada, explained in a statement on the internet. “We thank Canadians for their tolerance through this time, and continue to really encourage them to program forward and use early if they will need passport solutions.”

Caminha stated the federal authorities ought to have been superior organized for the surge in purposes.

“I feel it can be the over-all feedback below is that they understood that they were going to open up borders and that individuals would start off to strategy to travel. It is undoubtedly a absence of scheduling,” he explained.