Canada's passport, airport and immigration delays improving but still 'a lot of work to do,' ministers say

The federal task force created to improve service delays says that after spending the summer addressing the significant lineups and wait times experienced by Canadians at airports, passport offices, and those waiting for immigration applications to be processed, the situation is starting to improve but “we’re not out of the woods yet.”

“There's a lot of work to do and in some cases, we aren't up to the pre-pandemic service level that Canadians expect and deserve,” said task force co-chair, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller during a press conference on Monday.

Providing an update on the progress made so far, the government touted improvements including:

• hiring more than 700 new staff for passport offices;
• decreasing passport call centre wait times;
• setting up more passport "pick-up services and triage measures";
• hiring 1,800 more security screening officers at airports;
• decreasing flight delays,cancellations and baggage woes; and
• hiring 1,250 new staff to tackle the backlog and accelerate processing immigration applications.

Miller acknowledged that the situation experienced by Canadians this spring and early summer "should never have happened,” and that in some areas the federal Liberals were “slow in responding.”

In assessing what prompted this service delivery crisis, task force co-chair, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien said Monday that it was the result of demand far exceeding the federal government's capacity to respond. It's a situation being experienced in other countries as well, she added.

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Ien cited an "unprecedented" surge in Canadians travelling; the impact of having to adjust to international travel restrictions and border closures; and government-wide reduced processing capacity during the pandemic as exacerbating factors. Though, Miller said the government is not looking to blame others—whether airlines or other unprecedented global events like the war in Ukraine straining government service demands—because “a lot of the responsibility did lie on our shoulders.”

“There's a lot of work to be done, and looking inwards and seeing how we can get that machinery of government back up and going to a service standard. And then looking at the long-term as to what we have to do to fix the problem, whether it is old systems that haven't been updated for decades, whether it is more people,” Miller said.

He added that these approaches have been taken over the summer to expedite fixes to see people get their passports more quickly, but questioned whether that’s the most effective way to provide a more systemic fix and break down the government’s “silos.”

Monday's press conference was held alongside the cabinet ministers who have responsibility for tackling the long lines at airports as well as passport and immigration offices: Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould, who is responsible for Service Canada; Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra; Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser; and Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino.

Taking turns highlighting statistics meant to indicate how the situation is turning around, the ministers said they will continue to work on further improving Canadians' access to these key government services.

"We know that the wait is too long, and in many cases, we need to address it and to return the service standard that our clients—Canada's future students, workers, permanent residents and citizens— have come to expect," said the immigration minister about the backlog in processing those files, promising additional measures to help over the next few months.

Asked when Canadians can reliably expect passport turnaround times to return to what they were before the pandemic, Gould said those who have travel planned within 45 days and go to a passport office will receive their passport within 10 days, barring specific security or other complications. She said the challenges remain more with the mail-in application system, often because these submissions don't have a specific upcoming travel date.

"We're making considerable progress and we hope to be back to more normal service standards this fall," Gould said.

In late June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the creation of this task force—a committee comprised of 10 cabinet ministers—acknowledging the "unacceptable" wait times and delays Canadians have been experiencing with passport and immigration applications.

The prime minister tasked the group with reviewing service delivery, identifying gaps and areas for improvement, and making recommendations to improve the quality and efficiency of government services.

The task force has met 10 times since it was struck, and says it has been making changes along the way, but will also be making recommendations to the prime minister through cabinet.

“That is inevitably what will result in any sort of improvements that Canadians deserve,” said Miller.