Passport delays: Canadians cancel, reschedule trips & More News Here

Many Canadians are reporting prolonged delays and wait instances at passport places of work because the federal authorities works to course of virtually one million extra purposes over the previous 12 months.

After issuing solely 363,000 passports between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, Employment and Social Development Canada, which oversees Service Canada, says this rose to almost 1.3 million over the next 12 months.

The authorities stated Service Canada can also be coping with tens of 1000’s extra calls, with greater than 200,000 acquired day by day up from about 5,000 previous to the pandemic.

CTVNews.ca requested Canadians to share how the processing delays have impacted them and their journey plans. The responses had been emailed to CTVNews.ca and haven’t all been independently verified.

Among the responses from individuals throughout the nation, many reported that they needed to cancel or reschedule their holidays amid the lengthy wait instances.

As of Friday, lots of those that reached out to CTVNews.ca have but to obtain their passports, regardless of some making use of again in February.

Jonathan Ratcliff of Bella Coola, B.C. says he needed to cancel his journey to Europe with associates because of the delays. The 18-year-old says his associates left with out him for the journey earlier this month.

“I live 450 kilometres away from the nearest Service Canada Office and have had several failed attempts to contact the passport office on the status of my passport application. All I can do is wait and hope it comes in soon,” he stated.

As of Thursday, Ratcliff stated he had nonetheless not acquired his passport, “well over two months” since he utilized for it.

“I’m worried it might take another month, or maybe even two, to come in. If that is the case, I’ll end up having to completely cancel any plans to meet up with friends,” he stated.

Josh Monden says he and his spouse had been planning to journey to Cuba or Mexico on the finish of April, however needed to cancel their plans because of the passport processing delays.

Monden stated that they had an appointment at their native passport workplace in Peterborough, Ont. and submitted the paperwork together with present passports for renewal. He says the clerk checked over all their data, took cost and submitted the purposes.

Monden says it has been 45 enterprise days, as of Thursday, since then and so they nonetheless haven’t acquired their passports.

As their journey was nearing, Monden says they went again to the Service Canada to comply with up in-person, however had been advised to name the toll-free cellphone quantity on their receipt.

“Went ahead with calling, waited hours to get through, the call was dropped randomly at times and we had to try again. After finally speaking to someone, all they could tell us was that it’s under review. No further explanation could be given,” he stated.

“They said we could pay an extra $110 fee to expedite the process, but there’s no guarantee with that.”

Monden stated they won’t rebook their journey till the passports arrive, however hopes they do earlier than their Sunwing journey credit score expires come January 2023.

GROWING FRUSTRATION OVER DELAYS

Cher Rowe stated she already needed to cancel a visit to San Francisco for her grandmother’s eightieth birthday earlier this 12 months because of the passport delays, and should now should cancel her upcoming honeymoon.

While her present passport was legitimate and never set to run out, Rowe wished to have the paperwork amended to indicate her newly married title. She stated she did not assume it might take lengthy for a easy title change request.

“I ha[d] to apply for a renewal which is a full new application just for a name change and, as I couldn’t take time off of work to travel to a service centre, I had to mail in my application along with my current passport and my original birth certificate,” Rowe defined.

She says she at present has “no idea” the place any of her documentation is, if it has been acquired or if it is being processed.

Rowe stated she switched shifts at her job final Friday to drive 120 kilometres to her closest Service Canada to see if she may get an replace in-person. She was turned away and advised to name the toll-free quantity for the nationwide centre.

“The number that they provide is essentially useless – you are met with an automated message saying that the lines are busy. I’m up to 50 calls today alone and will continue trying daily until I get through,” Rowe stated.

“I am essentially completely out of options.”

Rowe is meant to go away for her honeymoon in three weeks, however has but to obtain her new passport. She stated she ought to be excited for this journey, however as an alternative is “extremely stressed.”

Calgary, Alta. resident Wone Yip says he utilized for a passport renewal through the first week of March. Yip stated his youngsters had been treating him to the Paul McCartney live performance in Seattle on May 3.

“My bank statement indicated the fees were processed, so I was hopeful I would get my passport in time,” he defined.

Yip stated he known as Service Canada “over 200” instances up till the day earlier than his flight with no luck and needed to cancel the tip. As of final weekend, he nonetheless hadn’t acquired his new passport.

Christine Miner says she and her husband had plans to go to Spain to go to their son this previous April. However, their passports didn’t arrive in time for the journey.

Miner stated they utilized for our passports on Feb. 21 and so they arrived May 4.

“That was way more than the 25 business days for processing,” she stated, including that they’ve rescheduled their journey for June.

Ilnur Haustein says he has spent quite a few days on maintain with Service Canada and in-person at his native passport workplace, attempting to get solutions as to why he has not but acquired his new passport after submitting the applying again in early March.

Haustein, who lives in Burnaby, B.C., had a flight booked to Kazakhstan on May 7 to go to is mother, who he hasn’t seen in 4 years, the final two of which had been resulting from pandemic restrictions. He says he needed to cancel the journey because of the “government’s unpreparedness.”

“The problem here is not that the passport issuance is being delayed nationwide, but the how the office handles us… They are not transparent, they don’t tell the truth, give false hope, and then… they make it as it’s our fault,” he stated.

EXPERT ADVICE ON PASSPORT DELAYS

As keen Canadians look to journey following two years of pandemic restrictions, one professional says lengthy wait instances for renewed passports would be the “new normal” for these taking holidays this summer season.

Because Canadians had been suggested to keep away from all non-essential journey through the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin Firestone, president of Toronto-based journey insurance coverage brokerage Travel Secure, says individuals weren’t taking a look at their passports as typically as that they had been beforehand and unknowingly let the documentation expire.

Given the lengthy wait instances, Firestone stated it’s best to not guide a visit till you may have your renewed passport in hand.

“Even paying doesn’t guarantee you getting an appointment and getting that passport in two days. So that’s added to the list of the new normal we’ll call it,” he beforehand advised CTV’s Your Morning.

If a flight is delayed or cancelled and the reason being inside the airline’s management and never safety-related, travellers are entitled to “a specific standard of treatment, compensation, and rebooking or a refund” underneath Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations.

However, if Canadians guide a world journey and haven’t got their passport by the point of departure, Firestone says they’re going to be on the hook for altering their flight.

“There is no insurance in the world that’s going to pay for a cancellation of a trip because you don’t have a passport… so you have to be just prudent and get yourself organized before you travel this year,” he stated.

With a file from CTV National News’ Annie Bergeron-Oliver and CTVNews.ca’s Michael Lee

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