QUÉBEC, July 19, 2022 /CNW/ - Service Canada would like to remind clients that passport services will be available during the construction holiday, from July 25 to August 5, 2022.
To support clients' passport service needs, a triage system has been implemented to provide a more intensive, client-specific approach at specialized passport offices in Montréal, Québec City and Gatineau, with increased numbers of managers and executives assisting and speaking directly with clients.
With regard to triage, staff are focused on clear communication to clients and prioritizing service to those with urgent travel needs within the following 24 to 48 hours. They are also directing clients with longer-term travel plans to the most appropriate service channels to ensure their passport needs are met and their travel is not interrupted. This includes making better use of the network of over 90 Service Canada sites in Québec, and ensuring all centres have the staff, technology and processing capacity to offer by-appointment passport service to clients with less-urgent situations, who have been redirected to them through the triage process.
In Québec passport offices, the triage includes four groups:
- Travel within 24 to 48 hours
- Passport transfers (meaning clients who previously applied by mail or at a Service Canada Centre)
- Travel within 3 to 10 days
- Passport pickups
Priority is being given to those travelling within 24 hours, then 48. Clients arriving or on site will receive a ticket with an approximate window of time to return for service at these specialized passport sites. Proof of travel or need is required. For those travelling within 3 to 10 business days, clients arriving or on site are being directed to specific nearby Service Canada Centres, with appointments. Proof of travel or need is required.
Approximate wait times for in-person service at specialized passport sites are available on Canada.ca. Due to the current backlog, clients may be asked to resubmit photos and original documentation to get faster service. If selecting in-person service without an appointment, clients should have all the required documentation for a passport application ready to either renew a passport, or apply for a new passport for an adult or a child.
If a trip is scheduled in the next week and clients have mailed in their passport application or applied at a non-passport Service Canada Centre and they do not have their passport, they should go to the nearest passport office to request a transfer of their application file.
Note that people aged 15 years and under entering the United States by land or water, who do not have a valid passport, only require one of the following documents to cross the border – an original or a copy of a birth certificate, or an original Canadian citizenship certificate.
Service Canada thanks everyone for their continued patience as its employees work tirelessly to ensure clients receive their passports as quickly as possible.
- Service Canada issued 363,000 passports between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021.
- Service Canada issued 1,273,000 passports between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022.
- Since April 1, 2022, Service Canada has issued 556,796 passports.
- The total forecast for passports in 2022–23 is 4.3 million applications.
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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
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