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Canadians are trying to cut the long wait for passports, which has been around five months.
In the year As of Aug. 11, a total of 1,092,560 passport applications had been submitted this year — more than 550,000 of which have been in the flood since April.
Service Canada said it is prioritizing applications for recent immigrants, adding staff and processing stations.
Despite all this, applicants say they are spending thousands of dollars to travel to passport offices that don’t have jobs – or falsifying travel plans to speed up the process to overcome a backlog of 340,000 applications.
Federal officials say they are working to fix the problem.
False trips affect the entire system
Minister responsible for passport services, Carina Gould, said Canadians are getting their passports on time, and there’s no need to “fake” a trip — a flight you don’t intend to take — as a way to qualify for an emergency 48-hour permit for Passport Canada.
“This affects the whole system. There are a lot of people who did the right thing. They sent their passports in advance. Their applications will affect anyone who writes fake travel,” Gould told CBC in a phone interview on Friday.
She had heard about the action, but the suspicion was widespread.
“I’m very sorry to hear that, because that puts more pressure on an already stressed system,” Gould said.
Meanwhile in Toronto, a man the CBC agreed to call Robert said he spent the past 59 days organizing 10 workers to make room for less than 500 passport applicants.
He claims to have earned up to $1,000 a day by providing this service.
No passport number is required to book many online flights
“Most of my clients take fake flights to get their passports [the border]” said Robert.
“You’re getting into a lot of wheels to drive. [the border] Instead of flying. So all they do is false flight. It’s usually Toronto to New York or Toronto to Miami, and they cancel it within 24 hours,” he said of his clients.
Several travel agents and Air Canada have confirmed that many flights can be booked online without a passport number, and a full fare or business class ticket is often refundable.
Other travelers go to Service Canada offices out of province where the lines are shorter, with some citing shorter waits in Halifax or St. John’s.
St. John’s photographer Robert Young is often called upon for passport photos.
Recently, he said, more travelers from other parts of Canada are using passport processing services in Newfoundland.
“We’ve always had people from the edges of the world — like Pangnirtung (Baffin Island) — but now they’re showing up from the big cities,” Yang said.
The government has promised that it will be fixed.
Gold reduced its lineup by hiring 500 new employees within 48 hours, offering extended hours and prioritizing applicants with immediate travel plans.
On July 25, Service Canada expanded its passport pickup services, adding five additional locations to its existing 29 passport offices in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and BC.
This and other measures — such as transferring application files to one of 300 Service Canada offices — aim to reduce passport processing delays.
But many who sent in applications last spring say change has been slow.
It’s hard to get anyone on the phone or get an accurate status on the application, many applicants say, said Paula Langley, a Canadian-born American who applied for a new passport in April.
Updates are hard to come by.
“The biggest problem is people can’t find answers to where their passports are. I think it’s partly technology, they might be using outdated software. Other countries allow you to check your status through online portals,” he said. Langley
“It’s very difficult to even get someone to ask a question on the phone. The 1-800 number gets cut off after a long queue of callers.”
On the Passport Canada website, delivery is promised in 46 days, or six and a half weeks. However, anyone who needs a passport within two working days can go to special stations that provide urgent services if they have travel confirmation.
The government’s plan was to ease backlogs, but some were caught and given the chance to jump the queue and cancel trips.
A broken system
“It’s outrageous,” said Leanne McLeod, who runs Leanne Gateways from Toronto and offers online passport advice. What doesn’t help, she says, is that you are booking a “fake” trip that she is canceling to get travel documents.
“I’ve seen people recommend booking a refundable hotel and then canceling,” she says. “He’s really taking over the whole process now. Everyone is tripping over someone going forward.”
New Democratic Party transportation critic Taylor Bachach said the fact that people are trying to work around the system shows that it doesn’t work.
“It shows how upset people are and how willing they are to go,” Bachrach said.
“If people have to ‘game’ the system to get their documents, it shows how broken the system is.”
In northern B.C. People in the Skeena Bulkley Valley constituency live a 12-hour drive from the nearest passport office.
Bachrach has a dedicated staff member who has spent the past several weeks helping them secure passports.
Family trips at risk
“I have the components that the family needs to travel to the U.S., and we were able to work with the federal government to get the passports. But to get there, it would have cost $2,000 more in travel expenses. From Smithers, BC, to Victoria to get the passports. … That’s obviously a huge impact on people. it has.”
Bachrach said the passport chaos of these months was “unacceptable”.
“The increase in demand for passports was entirely predictable. But the Liberals have had months to prepare for travel to return, but they have taken no action.”
That lack of common sense has many Canadians worried, with summer just a few weeks away. Joseph Evens of Terrace, BC, applied to renew his two teenagers’ passports on April 4.
A family of five saved up to travel to Mexico for four years. The flight was scheduled for August 27, but the passports did not arrive.
The minister promised that family passports will come
The father of three said he made hundreds of calls, made numerous requests for file transfers and pleaded with the MP. He may be forced to travel to Calgary or Vancouver at the last minute to secure his travel documents so that the holiday is not lost.
“The lack of sleep is putting a lot of stress on my family. We’re going broke,” Evens said. “I have no choice.”
Gould, the head of the passport service, told the CBC on Friday that Evens would receive travel documents on time.
“He’s going to get his passport. I understand people are stressed, but they’re all getting their passports on time,” Gold said.
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