Passport offices are prepared for the summer season, with new 10-day sites opened this spring

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

News release

June 21, 2023             Gatineau, Quebec              Employment and Social Development Canada

Passport delivery has returned to pre-pandemic processing times, there are no backlogs, and Service Canada is exceeding its delivery standard for most applications. While there was a minor impact on passport processing during the public service labour disruption earlier in the spring, all service delays were quickly resolved. Service Canada is back to delivering nearly all passports within the 10- and 20-day targets respectively, with approximately 98% of passports issued within service standards regardless of intake method.

Passport staff have continued to make improvements to service offerings over the past several months and are prepared to handle the first wave of renewals for passports with a validity of 10-years which started being issued in July of 2013.

Today, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, announced that seven new 10-day passport service sites across Canada are now in operation, namely:

With the upgrading of these sites, Service Canada now has 20 Service Canada Centres across the country where Canadians can apply for a passport and receive it by mail in 10 business days (mail time not included). This allows Canadians to get service closer to home and helps decrease wait times at passport offices. Canadians who require their passport in less than 10 business days must visit a passport office that offers express or urgent pick-up service and pay for expedited services.

Additionally, for the past several months, Canadians have been able to get real-time updates, 24-hours a day, on the processing of their applications through the online Passport Application Status Checker, which has led to shorter wait times when contacting the Passport Call Centre. Since the launch of the service on March 21, 2023, there have been over 702,000 visits to the online status checker website. To have access to this tool, Canadians must include an email address on their application. 

Quotes

“Service Canada has continued to work to improve service quality, accessibility and timeliness of the Passport Program. By eliminating the backlog, offering 10-day service at additional locations, creating an online status checker and rolling out online passport renewal services, Service Canada is making it even easier for Canadians to get their passports when they need them. We will continue to take important steps to modernize the passport system and provide the service Canadians deserve.”

– Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould

Quick facts

  • From April 2022 to March 2023, the Government of Canada issued 3,346,223 passports.

  • For the 2023–24 fiscal year, between 4.3 and 4.9 million passports are forecast to be issued.

  • Since April 1, 2023, the Government of Canada has issued 745,401 passports.

  • Since August 15, 2022, the 20 Service Canada Centres offering 10-day passport service have processed over 103,000 passport applications.

  • The Government of Canada announced a return to a steady state for the Passport Program on January 24, 2023, following major challenges related to, and exacerbated by the changing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Passport Program statistics are published online, and all data is updated weekly.  

Associated links

Contacts

Philippe-Alexandre Langlois
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould
philippealexandre.langlois@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Employment and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559
media@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
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