Service Canada shared that the triage system introduced this summer in 17 of its 35 passport offices has made a significant impact in reducing lineups and redirecting Canadians to the appropriate means to access service.The average wait time at call centres has also improved, going from a peak of 108 minutes in April to 27 minutes last week.
Expansion of passport pick-up sites
Today, at the Trois-Rivières Service Canada Centre, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, announced the designation of four additional passport pick-up locations across the country.
“Service Canada is working tirelessly to identify and implement solutions that not only improve the speedy delivery of passports, but also improve the service experience for Canadians. We will continue to make our services more accessible for all Canadians, " shared Gould.
Effective immediately, Canadians can now apply for and pick up their passport at the following Service Canada Centres:
In addition to the existing passport offices offering pick-up service, the release states that Canadians can now both apply and request in-person pick-up of their passport at these four Service Canada Centres.
Unlike the regular Service Canada Centres, these four locations offer 10-day service. According to Service Canada, Canadians can apply for a passport in one of those four locations and the passport will be available after 10 business days, either by mail or in-person pick-up.
If Canadians need their passport in less than 10 business days, Service Canada says they will need to visit a passport office that offers Express or Urgent pick-up service.
The expansion of pick-up sites will allow many Canadians who need to pick up passports to do so closer to their homes.
Service Canada says it is fully committed to providing passport services within 50km of the home of Canadians.
Also, more scheduled outreach sites that will provide certain passport services will be added in the coming weeks across the country.