National

Canada's passport backlog 'completely eliminated'

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 21 Mar, 2023 11:02 AM

OTTAWA - Families Minister Karina Gould announced today that the federal government has now "completely eliminated" the backlog of passport applications that caused major delays — and major political strife — last year.

Tune in for an important update on Passport Service Delivery ⬇️

//

Suivez-nous pour une mise à jour importante sur la prestation de services des passeports ⬇️https://t.co/k507xrGUWL https://t.co/GBGWujj7N5
— Karina Gould (@karinagould) March 21, 2023

She also announced that Ottawa is launching a new digital tool that will allow Canadians to check the status of their Service Canada application online, as long as they provide an email address.

The update comes after Gould said in late January that the backlog was "virtually eliminated," with the exception of some complex cases held back for reasons such as child-custody issues.

The pandemic had caused a nearly two-year lull in passport applications, but demand skyrocketed once people began travelling again, leading Service Canada to double the number of employees processing passports last year.

Gould told reporters today that she can guarantee that people who apply for passports will now get them on time, and she urged people whose passports expire in 2023 to get them renewed immediately.

The minister says there are plans in place in case another backlog occurs, but she did not offer details about what those plans are.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Family wants Walker extradited from U.S. to Canada

Dawn Walker, 48, is facing two charges in Oregon related to identity fraud along with two charges in Saskatoon of child abduction and public mischief. She was arrested Friday when she and her seven-year-old son were found in Oregon City, Ore., after a two-week search.

Family wants Walker extradited from U.S. to Canada

Cool weather brings some B.C. fires under control

Crews are making progress on several wildfires in the province, including a blaze near Lytton that broke out nearly a month ago and destroyed several properties. But BC Wildfire Service information officer Mikhail Elsay told a news conference Wednesday that crews are still having a difficult fight with the 68-square-kilometre fire southwest of Penticton in the Okanagan.

Cool weather brings some B.C. fires under control

World food crisis prompts rise in child marriages

Plan International Canada says it has seen a worrying increase in the number of teenage girls in the developing world being forced into marriage because their families cannot afford to feed them. The agency says 12 million girls under the age of 18 become child brides each year, forcing them to abandon school while putting their health at risk through early pregnancies.

World food crisis prompts rise in child marriages

Coroner lists 16 suspected heat deaths in B.C.

A report from the service on deaths says the fatalities happened between July 26 and Aug. 3, although the numbers are considered preliminary until investigations into each case conclude. The report shows all but two of the deaths happened in the Interior or Fraser health regions and involved victims aged 40 to over 90, with six in their 70s.

Coroner lists 16 suspected heat deaths in B.C.

West Fraser cuts mill shifts, 147 jobs in B.C.

The job cuts, expected to take place over the fourth quarter, come as the company permanently cuts about 170 million board feet of combined production at its Fraser Lake and Williams Lake sawmills and about 85 million square feet of plywood production at its Quesnel operation.

West Fraser cuts mill shifts, 147 jobs in B.C.

B.C. fund cuts plastic pollution: minister

Environment Minister George Heyman says the province is a North American leader in plastic recycling and the government's CleanBC Plastic Action Fund is looking for more innovations to cut plastic pollution.