The announcement came from Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, who oversees passports as part of her portfolio.

“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,” she said.

The triage system introduced this summer in 17 of Service Canada’s 35 passport offices has made a significant impact in reducing lineups and redirecting Canadians to the appropriate means to access service, she adds.

The average wait time at call centres has also improved, going from a peak of 108 minutes in April to 28 minutes last week. Since April 1, 2022, Service Canada has issued 912,236 passports. For the week of August 22 to 28, 2022, Service Canada has issued 54,667 passports.

In addition to the existing passport offices offering pick-up service, Canadians with proof of travel can now both apply and request in-person pick-up of their passport at a total of eight Service Canada Centres. Unlike the regular Service Canada Centres, these eight locations offer 10-day service, which means that Canadians can apply for a passport in one of those locations and the passport will be available in 10 business days, either by mail or in person pick-up. If Canadians need their passport in less than 10 business days, they will need to visit a passport office that offers Express or Urgent pick-up service.