'A pretty high-stress time': Canadians told to expect longer waits for passports

A Canadian passport sits on a suitcase in Ottawa on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

A federal minister is advising Canadians to expect long lines at passport offices this week as the public service resumes work following a 12-day strike.

Passport offices are back to regular services after a nearly two-week-long strike by the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

"So I came in at the end of March and ran into some issues. By the time we were able to straighten it out, the strike had hit, and it got delayed until everything ended yesterday," said Nakia Maxfield, who was checking on his passport application on Tuesday.

Maxfield is set to leave for Las Vegas on Thursday - as long as he gets a new passport in time.

"I have been stressed out for the last week and a half," he said. "It has been the main focus of everything I've been trying to figure out, and trying to figure out flights and everything to try and accommodate, so it's been a pretty high-stress time over the last week."

Employment and Social Development Canada said Service Canada received 27,900 passport applications during the strike, 81 per cent fewer than typical during the period.

Social Development Minister Karina Gould said she expects there to be a surge in applications as people were waiting for the strike to end before applying.

"So we are prepared for that," said Gould. "I think, particularly this week, Canadians can expect longer lineups because of the two weeks of applications that didn't come in, but we will deal with them on an urgent basis."

A wait people CTV News spoke with seemed to be okay with it.

"There's a little bit of a wait there today, but, you know, you bring a book or do something on your phone like other people do, and it's alright," said Bonnie Makodanski, who was trying to renew her passport.

"Yeah, there was a bit of a long line up for us today, about a two-hour wait, so I thought I'd go check out the service centre on Taylor [Avenue]," said James Reimer, who decided the wait at the downtown Service Canada location was too long.

As Service Canada works to catch up, it's prioritizing applications for those with immediate travel plans, noting:

"To manage lineups at passport offices and Service Canada centres, staff will prioritize clients with more urgent passport needs, including imminent travel," said Employment and Social Development Canada in a news release on Monday.

It added people do not need to arrive or line up prior to the opening of offices as staff will triage and manage lines throughout the day.

Comforting news for Maxfield and others needing passports as soon as possible.

"Since everything and they opened up yesterday morning, they've been pretty fast on trying to figure things out, so hopefully it gets worked out, and they said I should have it tomorrow," said Maxfield.

Service Canada said people who submitted applications during the strike do not need to re-apply.

It says Canadians can get updates on their application by using its online passport status checker.