4-month wait for passports forces Manitoba family to cancel summer trip
CBC
Corrie McCorkle thought applying to renew her kids' passports in March, almost two months before they were originally supposed to travel for a family vacation, would've left ample time for everyone to make the trip.
Four months later, the Manitoba woman still has no clear word on when the passports will come.
After paying to postpone the trip from May to July, McCorkle says she was forced to cancel the vacation this week.
Even if the passports come now, she wouldn't be able to make the trip work this summer, she said.
"I don't have time off work. All the time is taken for the summer."
High demand for passports from people looking to travel, after two years of pandemic restrictions made that impossible for many, has led to long lines at passport offices across Canada and disappointment for families like McCorkle's.
The latest data from the federal government shows that since April 1 this year, there have been more than 871,000 passport applications. Just under 557,000 have been issued during that time period.
Service Canada says it received 166,000 more applications from April to June than it did during the same period in 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
McCorkle, who works in the medical field, says she hasn't been able to take time off for the last two years.
"We're constantly working, and then I had two kids in high school … [including] one I was trying to get pushed through to graduate. So it's like, we were just so overwhelmed and busy that nobody had time to do anything," she said.
Eyeing the easing of travel restrictions, she planned to drive with her husband and two kids on May 15 to Grand Forks and Devils Lake in North Dakota.
"It was completely ruined," McCorkle said.
Losing the vacation is frustrating for her and a major disappointment to her kids, who had already exchanged their savings for American currency, she said.
McCorkle said her son, Jodeci, 17, and her daughter, Nikahya, 15, previously had passports, but they needed to be renewed.