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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/23/22 2:43:10 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, we are taking the situation very seriously. That is exactly why we adjusted our approach in Montreal. The situation in Montreal is exceptional. It is not like anywhere else in the country. Every day for the past seven days, between 1,500 and 2,000 people have lined up outside passport offices. Each person in line today got an appointment card for either today, tomorrow, Saturday or even Sunday, because we want to make sure they get their passport. That is what we want, and that is what we are doing.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/23/22 2:41:50 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, we have already done all of those things that my hon. colleague is calling for. It takes 15 weeks to train a passport officer. This has already been going on for months. The first class of passport officers starts on Monday. This is not something that changes overnight. It is already in place. The situation in Montreal improved today. In Laval and in Saint‑Laurent, everyone was given an appointment. At the Guy-Favreau complex, everyone is working to ensure that the hundreds of people there get their appointment. We will continue to prepare and do everything we can to serve Canadians.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/23/22 2:40:25 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, passport offices are open weekends in the busiest urban centres to make sure that people who urgently need their passport can get it. We have hired 600 people since January and we are in the process of hiring 600 more. We are reassigning hundreds of employees from Service Canada and other organizations, including the Canada Revenue Agency, Statistics Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. We are making every effort to resolve this situation, which is truly unacceptable for Canadians.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/23/22 2:27:44 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, Service Canada employees are already working 12, 14 or 16 hours a day. They are there first thing in the morning. They are serving Canadians. They are also working Saturdays to process passports. They receive applications during the day. At night, they process them and print the passports. They are working extremely hard in this extraordinary situation that is happening in Montreal.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/23/22 2:26:28 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the situation in Montreal is truly unacceptable. That is why, since yesterday, teams of 10 managers have been going down the line to ensure that everyone gets a chance to have a conversation and get an appointment ticket. Service Canada offices will be open until midnight today to serve people. We have a new strategy in place, and people lining up today who will not be travelling in the next 12 to 24 hours will receive an appointment for Friday or Saturday.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/23/22 2:20:17 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I understand Canadians' frustration with the passport situation. We implemented a new strategy as of yesterday. We saw the lines of people forming outside of the Saint-Laurent, Laval and Guy-Fravreau offices, so they received tickets and appointments. Today, 250 people who were outside the Laval and Saint-Laurent offices spoke with managers and got appointments. There are 10 or so managers in each office who are organizing people into 12-hour shifts to ensure that everyone can travel on time.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/22/22 3:14:20 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the situation in Montreal right now is like nowhere else in the country, with hundreds of people lining up at the three passport offices. With the Saint-Jean and Canada Day holidays coming up, we know that many Quebeckers want to travel. We have now changed our strategy to ensure that people receive the services and information they need. We will continue to respond to the situation to ensure that Canadians receive their passports.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/22/22 3:13:05 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, it is extraordinarily important that we get the integrity of passports right. That is something that I have been communicating, and when someone is applying for a passport for the first time, it is one of the reasons that we ensure we are getting this right. When we are looking at children's passports, it is another reason that we want to make sure we have permission from both parents, and if there is a separation, that we go through the custody agreements, because at all costs, we must protect our children. That is exactly what we continue to do.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/22/22 3:07:05 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, a passport is a secure document. We must ensure the integrity of the process, which involves stringent screening measures. This document confirms Canadian citizenship, and the integrity of the process is paramount. In addition, nearly 85% of the passport applications we have received are from first-time applicants, and that process is much more complex than a simple renewal. That said, we are here, and we have hired more staff. We are reallocating resources, and we will be there for Canadians.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/22/22 3:05:38 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, today, we adopted a new strategy to deal with applications in Montreal in particular. Hundreds and even thousands of people are waiting outside Service Canada offices. We gave out tickets for appointments. The director for Quebec assured me that senior management will be there all day to make sure that everyone in line gets the information they need and that those who are travelling in the very near future get an appointment.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/21/22 2:47:47 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague points out, this is not a situation unique to Canada. In fact, people in the United States, the U.K., France, Australia and Sweden are waiting for 10, 11 and up to 27 weeks. This is precisely something that is happening right around the world. It does not make it acceptable here, and that is exactly why we are throwing everything we have to fix this situation and to ensure that we can do this better, but almost all of our peer countries are going through the exact same thing.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/21/22 2:46:36 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I understand Canadians' frustration. We are doing our best to fix this situation. I have to correct my hon. colleague. All the employees who work on passports at Service Canada are in the office, and have been for months. When he talks about public servants working from home, they are working. They are the same public servants who got the Canada recovery benefit out to Canadians. In all, nine million Canadians received benefits thanks to the hard-working employees of Service Canada.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/21/22 2:45:10 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, we are currently triaging people in line because of the unprecedented volume to ensure that people do not miss their flights. We have ensured that, when people get to the passport office, they are receiving their passports. The member opposite can certainly work with my office to support that constituent. I have been pleased to work with many members opposite to support their constituents and make sure that they can get their passports on time. We will continue to support them and Canadians as we go through this surge in volume to support Canadians with their passports.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/21/22 2:43:49 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, as I have mentioned several times in the House, we are experiencing an unprecedented volume in terms of passport applications. We have, in fact, been planning for this surge and that is why 600 employees were hired since January. Another 600 are in the process of being hired. We are rearranging and reallocating resources within Service Canada and also within other government departments. We understand the situation. We understand the frustration of Canadians, and we will continue to do everything that we can to support Canadians in getting their passports in a timely fashion.

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Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)

Jun/21/22 2:41:18 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the situation in Montreal is completely unacceptable. I have heard about this situation and it is clearly not what should be happening. I assure my colleagues that anyone in Montreal who is travelling in the next 48 hours is getting their passport. Applicants are being triaged in line. Senior management is on the ground to help manage the situation, and although the volume of applications has skyrocketed, this situation is unacceptable.

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