Government misses deadline for online passport renewals by fall 2023

Yet another operational failing. Always better to under promise and over deliver and striking government tends to the opposite:

…The government processes anywhere between 2.5 million and five million passport every year and as far back as 2020 a review of the system has recommended an online option to streamline the process. Canada’s passport system was overwhelmed in 2022 as people returned to travel following the pandemic, with people waiting months to get a passport or standing for hours outside passport offices for emergency travel.

The government has largely cleared that backlog, but Krupovich said the department’s hope is that an online renewal process will allow the department to better manage volumes.

“This tool will also help us to better manage fluctuating application volumes and help ease the pressure on front-line staff, thereby improving client access to passport services,” he said.

The new proposed system would allow people to renew their passports, upload a new photo and pay any fees all online without going to a passport office. Anyone applying for a new passport would still have to go to an office in person.

Krupovich didn’t give a new deadline for when the online renewal might be made available, saying only that any developments would be announced.

Source: Government misses deadline for online passport renewals by fall 2023