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    • Service Canada doubled its efforts in summer to reduce passport wait times; did it work?

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    After many Canadians were frustrated with long passport wait times earlier this year, some even camping out in front of passport offices for days, Service Canada said it doubled its efforts by hiring dedicated staff to expedite processing times. Did it work? Data provided by the department show it did, with a nearly 90 per cent increase in passports issued in October compared with May, when the backlog was at its worst.

    “Thanks to hiring efforts, an increase in efficiency, and the streamlining of processes, the inventory of passport applications is declining,†the agency said in its emailed statement to CTVNews.ca.

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    More passports are being issued within 40 days, according to the statement. For the week of Oct. 10 to Oct. 16, 2022, 72 per cent of passports were issued within 40 days in comparison to 66 per cent two weeks ago.

    Five months back, the agency experienced an unprecedented volume of applications which increased passport processing times, with Canadians being forced to wait in.

    To deliver timely passport services for Canadians, Service Canada said it took a number of measures which included dedicated passport counters and opening selected centers on Saturdays.

    Data provided to CTVNews.ca by Service Canada show that after the pandemic there was a huge dip in people applying for passports before the unprecedented rise in the number of passport applications.

    The 2022 surge in May coincided with the peak summer travel season and announced towards the end of April 2022. The number of applications grew nearly 100 times in May this year, from 2,917 in 2020 to 281,055 in 2022.

    The passport applications received for May were also the highest ever recorded since the start of the pandemic.

    Of the total number of passport applications received in May this year, 57 per cent were issued passports at the time.

    Passport application service standards also vary depending on the method of application, which is typically 10 days for in-person and 20 days for mail.

    In the following months of June and July, roughly 77 per cent and 88 per cent of passport applications were issued. The data shows that the significant decrease in passport inventory coincided with the number of overtime hours by the passport processing network.

    The last week of June recorded the highest number of overtime hours, with 10,182 hours which included overtime dedicated only to passport processing.

    In the last two months of August and September this year, the agency has started processing more passport applications, crediting additional staff and overtime hours

    Recent data from shows that in August, Canadians travelling overseas have more than doubled in August this year compared to the same month last year. The passport applications for August grew almost twice this year, to 265,168 in August this year from just 127,644 last year.

    Despite the surge in applications, a record number of passports were issued in August and September this year, Service Canada said, with a significant increase in the number of passports entitled per week.

    The week of May 16, 2022, there were 41,350 passports issued, compared to 77,234 the week of October 3, 2022, an increase of 87 per cent.

    The agency said it is important to note that not all passport applications received result in the issuance of a passport.

    “A significant proportion of mail-in applications result in the file being rejected,†Service Canada said in its statement. “The file could be incomplete as photos do not meet the specifications, the child application does not have the appropriate custody documentation/adoption documents, etc.) or require to follow up with the client.â€

    The agency expects to receive during the 2022-2023 fiscal year and has hired 926 new employees for processing passport applications between April 1, 2022, and October 16, 2022, to meet the surge in demand for passports.

    During the pandemic, the agency said it had no layoffs. Instead, the passport workforce grew from 1,365 to 2,291 between April 1, 2022, and October 16, 2022. This included hired in the month of May to focus on processing the passport applications.

    Correction

    The previous story incorrectly stated the increase in passport applications between May 2020 and May 2022. We have corrected the error.

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