Canada’s passport offices spent more than two years restoring in-person staffing levels despite warnings of increased demand, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. .“Eleven percent of passport officers worked from home,” said cabinet in an inquiry of ministry tabled in the House of Commons..Records showed Canada’s passport offices had 831 employees at public service centres in 2020. They said there were 757 employees on the job in January, a decrease of 9%. .Passport offices did not reach pre-pandemic staffing levels until May. .Offices did not reopen all service counters until May. Conservative MP Dan Albas requested the data. .Cabinet did not explain why it failed to address demand for passports, which led to five- to six-hour lineups for in-person services and three-month waits for mailed applications. .“We are doing everything we can,” said Social Development Minister Karina Gould. .“Passport services are not yet back to normal.”.Service Canada said in June it knew last summer it should have prepared for higher numbers of applications. It said it began implementing a staffing plan to handle an increased number of applications. .The inquiry disclosed numerous passport offices had fewer staff in January than at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Edmonton had 59% fewer in-person staff at service counters. .Regina’s passport staff level was down 31%. Toronto cut in-person staffing by 28%. .The inquiry said prior to the pandemic in 2020, the passport office issued 229,392 travel documents. The monthly processing numbers fell to as few as 2,100 in 2020. .Passports issued in August totalled 240,980..“I can’t give you a clear timeline in terms of when things are going to return to normal,” said Gould. .“Part of it is making sure that we’re back up at full capacity both in person at a Service Canada centre, but also at processing centres and also making sure that people are able to do their jobs.”.Records revealed in June showed passport offices suspended hundreds of employees under its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. .READ MORE: Overwhelmed passport offices suspend hundreds of employees.“When I see this, I feel bad for my country,” said Conservative MP Gerard Deltell. .Service Canada said 249 employees were off work under its vaccine mandate. Another 18,362 workers did their jobs from home as a pandemic precaution.
