Passport renewal in 30 business days or free! Canada Service Announcement

Renewal of passports in 30 business days or free! Service Canada announces

Service Canada has offered a new guarantee to travellers: Your passport will be renewed within 6 weeks, or you won’t have to pay a fee.

The guarantee, announced Friday by Citizen Services Minister Terry Beach, is part of the ministry’s efforts to reduce wait times for various services, including passport renewals, federal benefits and the Social Insurance Number (SIN) program.

“We are modernizing services and improving the passport program to reduce wait times and costs and ensure that Canadians have access to the protections they need without unnecessary barriers,” Parliamentary Secretary Stephen Luzon said in a statement.

The measures come after conditions improved following the COVID-19 pandemic, when increased demand for passport renewals caused wait times to stretch to several weeks, causing widespread concern and dissatisfaction among travellers.

According to a new report from Service Canada, the number of phone calls from Canadians nearly quadrupled in 2021-2022. Only 1.3 million passports were issued in those years, compared to three million in 2018-2019.

Since then, Service Canada has increased its resources to expedite the process, including automated information systems to answer applicants’ questions, allowing eligible individuals to renew their passports online, and increasing capacity at in-person centres.

The current wait time for passport applications is 20 business days (4 weeks), but some centres offer expedited service as short as 2 weeks. However, Service Canada’s new guarantee gives itself an extra 2 weeks, and if a passport is not ready within 30 business days, fees paid will be refunded in full.

Improving SIN services and reducing wait times
In addition to passports, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Services is also accelerating other services such as unemployment insurance (EI) benefits, the pension program and the Canada Dental Program.

According to a Service Canada report, most EI applications are now processed automatically, and new programs such as the Canada Dental Program have also been launched with automated systems.

One key measure is improving the process for issuing Social Insurance Numbers (SINs). Starting in 2020, SINs will be available online for newcomers and youth, and a program called SIN@Landing will soon be launched that will allow newcomers to receive their SINs before leaving the airport.

According to the report, the integration of SIN applications with other immigration documents, which will be part of the upcoming SIN@Entry program, will

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