Hours on hold and endless queues: Canadians still grappling with poor passport service
CBC
Canadians routinely wait hours on the phone and in person when dealing with Passport Canada, leaving many travellers infuriated by the quality of the agency's customer service.
Post-COVID chaos at passport offices prompted the federal government to step up and promise a series of changes to get the documents into travellers' hands in a timely manner.
Passport Canada claims that after a prolonged period of pandemic-related delays, the agency has returned to its normal "service standard" of getting passports to most people in 10 or 20 business days, depending on where an application is initially filed.
But the agency's service standard makes no promises about how quickly they will serve people in person or over the phone.
Data and anecdotal reports suggest Passport Canada's customer service track record is poor.
A CBC News analysis of passport office wait times shows people in urban centres often wait several hours to get face-to-face with a customer service agent at Passport Canada-branded offices.
On a weekday morning in mid-March, for example, Passport Canada's website estimated the wait time at its west-end Ottawa location at 2 hours and 45 minutes.
In downtown Toronto that month, would-be passport holders faced a three-hour wait to get to the front of the line before noon.
The wait times in late April were much the same: people in Mississauga, Ont. were being told then they'd have to wait about 2 hours and 45 minutes to be served if they were on site at 9:30 a.m. There was a bright spot in Halifax — there the wait was only an hour.
On Monday, prospective passport holders in Brampton, Ont. faced a nearly three-hour wait shortly after that city's office opened, according to Passport Canada data published online.
At Calgary's Sunpark Drive location, travellers were told it would be at least three hours before they could speak to somebody after it opened its doors for the day, online data shows.
Debbie Braun is a retiree who lives in High River, Alta., less than an hour south of Calgary.
She told CBC News that the prospect of those long in-person wait times led her to skip the drive into the city and send her passport application by mail in February.
And given Passport Canada's commitment to process the vast majority of mail-in applications "within 20 days," Braun thought she'd have her hands on a renewed passport well before her Mexican vacation in April.
More than half of Alberta adults say they would support eliminating provincial funding for private schools if the issue went to a referendum, a recent survey suggests.
The receding of floodwaters in Abbotsford, B.C., has led officials to reopen Highway 1 and downgrade some evacuation orders, though more rain is expected across the Fraser Valley and other parts of the province.
When she flew home to Edmonton from Mexico this month, Mahala Swisterski says she and her husband breathed a sigh of relief as they boarded the plane.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the door is open for American officials to restart trade talks with Canada, but the next time for direct engagement on trade will likely be when the North American free trade agreement begins its review process next month.
A winter storm rolling through the Maritimes is expected to impact much of P.E.I. on Sunday, with the system continuing to bring snow and blustery conditions into Monday.
Calgary police say they will have an increased presence at the city's official menorah lighting ceremony Monday, after at least 15 people were killed in an attack at a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach. "The Calgary Police Service has increased patrols around synagogues and at local Hanukkah events, including at tomorrow's menorah lighting at city hall," a police statement said.
A new study suggests that a colony of sea birds nesting on Cape Parry in the N.W.T. could face increasing threats related to increased Arctic shipping traffic and environmental change.
Albertans — predominantly members of the South Asian community — gathered at the Venice Banquet Hall in northeast Calgary for a town hall Saturday to address concerns around extortion and crime, with provincial and federal elected officials in attendance.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party's focus on affordability "is what unites all Conservatives," as the Tories grapple with another MP crossing the floor to join the Liberals — bringing them one seat shy of forming a majority government.
Toronto, York and Peel police are increasing their presence in the Jewish community during Hanukkah after the harrowing attack at Australia’s Bondi Beach on Sunday.
Another round of wintry weather is moving through Nova Scotia and P.E.I. on Sunday and will continue into Monday, with more snow and gusty winds, followed by frigid temperatures.
Hundreds of Londoners showed up at CBC's annual Make the Season Kind holiday event on Thursday in support of the London Food Bank.
The crisp weather didn’t stop the hundreds of people who took part in the annual Mummer’s parade in Bowring Park, St. John’s Saturday.