Question Period Note: NORMES DE SERVICE DE PASSEPORT

Provide weekly updates on passport service standards

• The performance target for passport applications is 90% of complete applications are processed within the published service standards:
o 10 business days to process in-person passport applications received at a specialized passport office or a Service Canada Centre that offers expedited services.
o 20 business days for applications received by mail or in-person at a Service Canada Centre.
• During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, Service Canada Passport operations received over 4.8 million applications and issued over 4.4 million passports.
• ESDC/Service Canada expects to receive between 4.9M and 5.4M passport applications during the 2024-25 fiscal year.
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• Clients can check approximate wait times for Service Canada’s passport offices on Find a Service Canada Office webpage to help prepare for their visit.
• Clients have the option of booking an appointment for passport services using the eServiceCanada portal.
• Clients can track the status of their application anytime and from anywhere on the Passport Application Status Checker.
• The Passport program service standards apply only to properly completed applications. They do not include time required for postal delivery, and additional verifications. The standards for all Passport program services were implemented in July 2013, unless otherwise stated.IF PRESSED on status checker results:
• Canadians have been using the Passport Application Status Checker for updates on their applications since the launch in March 2023.
• For the last fiscal year 2023-2024, there have been over 4.4M visits to the Passport Application Status Checker, and 757K for the current fiscal year.
• Of these visits, almost 3.1M requests for passport status searches were received, by almost 538K unique clients, with 76% successfully received a status result. .
• For the new fiscal year 2024-25, 488K requests for passport status searches were received, by almost 106K unique clients, with 82% successfully received a status result.
• A client may not be successful:
o If they do not have a File Number and did not include their email address on their application
o If they submitted their application within the last 5 days in person or 10 days by mail as it may take time to receive the application and create the record in the system.
o If the application is an excluded file type such as a diplomatic or special passport, a certified true copy, a certificate of Identity and Refugee Travel document as well as all applications submitted at a Canadian mission abroad.
o If they entered information into the checker that does not match their application. If PRESSED on how processing times are calculated

• Service standards are the program’s commitment to process an application in a certain amount of time, under normal circumstances.
• The processing time is the actual time it takes to process an application. The processing may fluctuate based on internal and external factors.
• The time to mail passports to clients domestically and to missions abroad is not included in the calculation of the processing time or service standard.
• A small number of cases may take longer due to additionnal verifications or security checks which do not count towards the processing time.
If PRESSED on drop in service standards and increase in processing times.
• As a result of higher-than-expected intake since beginning of 2024 as well as some system outages experienced throughout February and March, Service Canada saw a drop in service standard. For the week starting April 22nd , the 90% service standard for in person was missed by two days (90% provided within 12 days) and four days for mail (90% within 24 days) services. The drop in service standard is expected to be temporary and is linked to the ongoing recovery efforts as the program processes out of standard inventory and intake volumes decrease (expected first months of 2024-2025).IF PRESSED on line-ups
• Service Canada Centres experience seasonal peaks throughout the year, with the main peak usually occurring in the winter.
• SCCs and Passport Offices are now preparing for the upcoming summer seasonal peak.
• Sites that see longer lineups implement an Integrated Client Experience Strategy that ensure consistent line management practices, including:
o Triaging clients in line based on travel need and/or appointment
o Offering extended hours of service and week-end appointments
o Promotion of appointments
o Promoting alternative service options (e.g. 20 day service at nearby Service Canada Centres)
If Pressed on 2022 application surge

• At the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year, the backlog was eliminated, and the passport program was processing applications within service standard 99% of the time. More specifically, 99% of passports, regardless of intake channel, were processed within the 10- and 20-business days service standard.
• In response to the 2022 passport surge, Service Canada introduced a variety of new measures to improve passport service delivery and decrease wait times for Canadians.

The department responded to post-pandemic service delivery challenges with a focus on ensuring Canadians received high-quality and efficient government services.
Canada’s passport program experienced a set of interconnected issues created by the pandemic, which manifested through pressures on Service Canada’s passport service delivery. In response to the challenges, significant work was undertaken to eliminate the backlog and return processing times to pre-pandemic levels. The backlog was eliminated at the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year. 99% of passports, regardless of intake channel, were processed within the 10- and 20-business days service standard. Service Canada have carried some actions forward, as it prepared for anticipated volumes:

• Launched an appointment-booking tool that directs clients to the right location for service while continuously updating the website with up-to-date statistics and wait times.
• Launched the Passport Application Status Checker in March 2023, allowing clients to track the progress of their application.
• Expanded eligibility for simplified processing to replace expired passports (up to 15 years) as renewals rather than new applications.
• The in-person network continues to meet, on a national level, the Service Canada standard of 90%, with over 96% of Canadians having access to one of the Service Canada in-person points of service within a 50 km driving distance of where they live.
• Increased access to passport services, with the addition of 22 Service Canada Centres offering passports within 10 business days, with additional sites launching in the coming months. The decision is based on a number of factors including the volume of clients in a geographic area and driving distances between Service Canada locations.
• Expanded the delivery of passport services to scheduled outreach sites to help meet the passport needs of rural and remote communities.

Service Canada also continues to work with the passport program owners at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada as they modernize the system and continue to improve the automation of the application process in order to increase our processing capacity for simplified renewal applications.

• For 2023-2024 fiscal year, the overall service standard for the total fiscal year closed at 92%, above the 90% performance target.
• For 2024-2025, as of the week starting April 22nd, 2024, Service Canada has received more than 435K applications compared to 209K in 2023 for the same period and issued almost 421K passports compared to 210K in 2023 for the same period; of which 74% of all applicants received their passport within the 10- or 20-business day service standard (the target is 90%).
• For the week starting April 22nd , 2024, 78% of Canadians who have applied for a passport received it within service standard compared to 94% in 2023 for the same period.
o 85% who applied in-person at a specialized passport office received their passports within 10 business days compared to 95% in 2023 for the same period.
o 73% of Canadians who applied by mail or at a Service Canada Centre received their passports within the 20-day service standard compared to 97% in 2023 for the same period.
o The lower service standards starting in 2024-2025 stem from higher out of standard inventory carried over from fiscal year 2023-2024 resulting from Service Canada receiving higher than expected volumes since the beginning of January 2024. While the 90% service standard was not met last week, the 90% standard was missed by only two days for in-person (90% provided within 12 days) and four days for mail (90% within 24 days) services.