Category: Service Canada

Union May File Formal Complaint Against Federal Department for Dropping Mask Mandate Without Consultation

The Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU) may be filing a formal labour-code complaint against a federal department on the grounds that it was not consulted before the mask requirement for in-person visitors to Service Canada locations was recently dropped. Social Development Minister Karina Gould told a parliamentary committee on Feb. 14 that the mandate has been…


Mask Mandate for Visitors to Service Canada Locations Has Been Dropped, Committee Hears

The requirement that people visiting Service Canada offices must be masked has been dropped, a parliamentary committee has heard. Service Canada is operated by the department of Social Development Minister Karina Gould, who appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources on Feb. 14. Conservative MP Rosemarie Falk told Gould about various complaints she…


Canada’s Passport Application Backlog Now ‘Virtually Eliminated,’ Says Minister

Service Canada has “virtually eliminated” the passport application backlog, which peaked at over 250,000 applications in August 2022, says Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould. Most of the new passport applications causing the backlog were being processed on time as early as October, but thousands of other applicants who had applied beforehand were still…


Canada’s Passport Office Took Over 2 Years to Restore In-Person Staffing to Pre-Pandemic Levels: Federal Records

Canada’s passport office took more than two years to bring in-person staffing back to pre-pandemic levels despite being aware of increased demand for travel documents, federal records show. The records, obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, also noted that more than a tenth of passport officers (11 percent) continued to work from home as late as this…


In-Person Service for Mail-In Passport Requests Now Available at 300 Sites in Canada

Some travellers keen to get their passports will now be able to request their mail-in applications be transferred to any of the more than 300 local Service Canada centres for processing. They can also now do so even if their need for a passport is slightly less urgent, as in for those planning to leave…


Government Bracing for Surge in Passport Renewals

OTTAWA—Pierce Schoel thought he might be able to avoid a long wait at the passport office in Kitchener, Ont. by going in the middle of the day. He was surprised to discover lineups out the door. The security guard told people they’d likely be waiting two, even three hours. But with a long-awaited trip to…