Northern MPs working to fast-track passport applications amid backlog

Federal politicians in the northeast are offering help to constituents who are having trouble getting their passports, as massive backlogs continue to delay the issuing of travel documents.

Northerners who've been waiting weeks for their passports to come in the mail risk needing to drive to Thunder Bay, Toronto or Ottawa to access a Service Canada location that processes urgent applications for trips that are 48 hours away.

NDP MPs Carol Hughes and Charlie Angus said in efforts to avoid the long trip, their offices have been trying to help people fast-track their applications by dealing with Service Canada directly.

"It's very hard to reach anybody at this point," said Hughes, adding that the process is more complicated now than in years past.

"(Service Canada's) telling us that it's quite problematic and they recognize that and it's unacceptable."

Hughes said northern politicians have been asking for a Service Canada location that can issue passports on-site in the northeast, rather than through the mail, which would reduce people's need to travel for urgent services.

For now, she said federal minister Karina Gould, who's in charge of Employment and Social Development Canada, needs to get a plan together to address the backlog caused by the pandemic lockdowns—as well as the upcoming demand for passport renewals.

"2024 is when the first cohort of the 10-year passports will actually be up, so there'll be another huge demand at that point," Hughes said.

CTV News requested comment from Employment and Social Development Canada, which oversees Service Canada, but it could not provide a response by the time of publication.

Passport Canada has posted on Twitter that it is working to issue passports faster, saying that it has ramped up approvals by over 60 per cent. Gould also issued a statement last week, saying that more employees are being hired, trained and reassigned to work on the backlog.