Since Canadian provinces began to be unblocked in March, people seem to be unable to be happy. Not only because the virus is still spreading, the so-called unblocking does not mean victory, and the reason why I can't be happy is: passport renewal and application, and the waiting time is particularly outrageous.
Many Canadians, including the editor, have only taken 5 to 8 weeks to change their passports to themselves or their children, but now some people have been waiting for 5 to 8 months! Seeing that the summer vacation is coming, Canadians who are ready to travel plans lament: Where is my passport?
In particular, Canada has recently abandoned the random COVID-19 testing at the airport, making the procedures for traveling abroad very simplified. In this case, it would be really unfair if we were trapped because of our passport...
Image from: Aircanada
Is it forced us to only visit locally in Canada? It’s not that Canada is not good, but when I finally have the opportunity to go abroad, everyone has always hoped that Service Canada will give me an explanation, at least to tell you when it will speed up and how much speed can it be.
Service Canada always responded very well: Sorry, we have too many backlogs of documents and a shortage of labor, so we cannot meet everyone's urgent needs.
But starting this month, the turnaround has finally arrived:
Service Canada said that since mid-May, the overall service efficiency has approached the pre-pandemic level, and since mid-June, it has been exactly the same as before, or even faster.
Because Service Canada has also added "Measures to Simplify and Speed Up Passport Processing" to ensure that Canadian families have not delayed their summer vacation trips. So how long does it take to apply now? Service Canada gives a timetable:
- 75% of Canadians, if they apply for a passport by email, they can receive it within 40 working days;
- 96% of Canadians, if they queue in person to apply for a passport, they can receive it within 10 working days.
According to the efficiency of the first half of the year, it takes more than 3 months to apply for a passport by email, and even in person, it is more than 1 month on average. If, as Service Canada promised, the long waiting days for the passport were finally over.
Figure from: globalnews
However, the figures of 75% and 96% are intriguing - Who can guarantee that they are not the 25% and the 4%? In order to convince everyone, Service Canada also listed the "glorious achievements" in the past few months:
Since April 1, 2022, Service Canada has issued 317,000 passports, equivalent to more than 150,000 copies per month and more than 5,000 copies per day.
From 2022 to 2023, Service Canada will receive a total of 3.6 million to 4.3 million passport applications. I believe that the efficiency will improve and will help everyone solve their problems.
Picture from: visaguide
At the same time, Service Canada has not forgotten to excuse itself: the demand for travel this year is so great that it really exceeds our ability. You should know that from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, a total of only 363,000 copies were issued. The current two months are equivalent to 1 year during the epidemic.
However, some people also believe that in the two months after the unblocking, the demand for cross-border travel exceeded the entire year during the first and second waves of the epidemic... Isn't this very normal? We should compare the figures from the same period in 2019.
600 new employees and thousands of new counters have been in place
Since May, Service Canada has hired a total of 600 new employees to handle passport application and passport renewal matters, and has opened a total of thousands of new counters in 317 Service Canada centers across the country.
Picture from: salmonarm
In addition, Service Canada has also updated workload management and processing technology to improve the computer system. In addition, Service Canada also emphasized: If you have urgent travel needs and need a passport within 2 days, you can apply for a temporary passport through the Service Canada counter.
Traveling in Canada does not require a passport in 99% of cases, but it is not ruled out that some airlines will require this, so it is best to have a passport.
Picture from: canada.ca
Seeing this, someone will say, "It sounds good, but has the queue time of each passport processing center eased?" After all, in Service Canada in major cities in the first two months, some people lined up from the early morning to the afternoon, and couldn't wait.
Service Canada obviously knows this. The reason why new employees and windows are added is to shorten the queue time. Nowadays, the queueing situation in various offices has improved. Service Canada has also added a new web page, which can query the average queueing time of each office:
https://ircc.canada.ca/english/passport/map/map.asp?po=1#table1caption
Select Service Canada in Greater Vancouver, let's see how many hours the current average queueing time is:
Sinclair Centre
757 Hastings St, Vancouver
Average waiting time: 3.5 hours
Business hours: 8:30 am to 4:00 pm
Picture from: dailyhive
Cooney Road
5611 Cooney Rd, Richmond
Average waiting time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Business hours: 8:30 am to 4:00 pm
Central City
10153 King George Blvd, Surrey
Average waiting time: 3.5 hours
Business hours: 8:30 am to 4:00 pm
This shows that the average waiting time of the three Service Canada Certificate Application Centers: Vancouver , Richmond , and Surrey are all around 3 hours. Compared with the previous 7 hours and 8 hours, it has indeed improved, but the real situation may still require asking the person who went to handle the matter on the spot.
Picture from: vancouverisawesome
EdmontonResident Mellisa questioned the queue time: "As the summer vacation approaches, because it cannot delay the trip, more and more Canadians will choose to queue up to apply for a passport quickly instead of mailing it and waiting slowly. Therefore, the number of people queuing only increases but does not decrease."
So, even if the windows of each Service Canada office increase from 5 to 6 or 7, how much efficiency can be improved? What can save half of the time? This is credibility...not very high!
Picture from: dailyhive
In short, Service Canada has already promised what should be promised. At least it seems that applying for and renewing your passport has been out of the dilemma. Is the long wait finally over?
