Montreal Police patrol outside the Complexe Guy Favreau, where people are patiently waiting to be admitted to the passport office on June 20, 2022. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette
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After spending the night outside the Complexe Guy Favreau in the city center, Christian Bourque said Tuesday that he waited another night before taking the opportunity to renew his daughter’s passport.
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Bourque was one of dozens of people – many of whom flew within 48 hours – who had camped out hoping to renew their travel documents for themselves or a child. Burke, who was trying to renew his 15-year-old daughter’s passport, lined up Monday and said he thought he could enter the office by Wednesday. “We have not seen our son for a year, he lives in Portugal,” Bourque said in an interview. “My youngest daughter needs a new passport. “We sent them the request about two and a half months ago – they said it would take about 20 working days and we are here almost three months later.” Early in the afternoon, about 60 people were waiting outside the Complex Guy Favreau and dozens of others had left empty chairs to reserve their seats.
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Since April, long queues have been reported at passport offices across the country, amid rising applications and renewals. Florent Cohen, who waited shortly after 4 a.m., said he was told he had to come to the office 48 hours before he left to use the emergency procedure to get a passport for his four-month-old son. Cohen, who wants to introduce his parents – who live in France – to the newborn, said passport officials did not help. “They did not give us an answer as to what is happening, what we will do next,” he said, adding that he was disappointed by “the lack of communication and explanations about the process.” Quebec Minister for Canadian Affairs Sonia LeBel said it was ridiculous that people were camping for a passport and called on Ottawa to take immediate action to address the demand.
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In Ottawa, Family Minister Karina Gould said the delays, which she had previously described as “unacceptable”, were the result of a large volume of passport applications. “I fully understand and I feel the frustration of Canadians for this,” he told reporters. “Passports (are) something that many people have not had to worry about in the past, but because of the large volume we have received over the last two months, it puts a lot of pressure on the system.” Gould’s department is responsible for Service Canada, which processes passport applications. He said 600 people had been hired since January and another 600 had been transferred from other government departments. Late Tuesday, Gould said a new system would be implemented Wednesday morning, in which people would receive a number and an appointment to reduce long queues, Radio Canada reported. Gould said the situation at the Montreal Passport Office was the most difficult in the country.
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Kevin King, president of the National Workers’ Union, who represents employees at passport offices, said extra workers could not validate passports because they had not completed the 12-week training program. The work done by transfer officials must be validated by a passport officer, he said. “Pulling people from other government departments to help with things like traffic flow and the like, with queues at offices, does not solve the problem,” he said in an interview Thursday. King said he was concerned about the lack of courtesy from some people waiting for their passports. “There have been examples in Montreal where employees have been harassed, verbally harassed,” he said, adding that some of this harassment occurred as employees left their offices. Burke said he did not understand how the government did not plan to increase passport applications. “There is something a little Soviet in the environment,” he said. “I do not understand how this could happen in Canada.”
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