As COVID restrictions around the world have been lifted, Canadians are looking to leave their country for vacations, but getting a passport or renewing an existing one is proving to be more difficult than ever.
Blacklock’s Reporter revealed that the federal agency in charge of passport offices suspended 249 employees because of its vaccine mandate, regardless of whether they worked from home or now.
In passport issuing offices around the country, Canadians have faced hours-long wait times to see someone.
In Montreal, the situation is especially dire. Individuals seeking a passport can only see someone if they are scheduled to travel within the next 24h to 48 hours. They often have to wait dozens of hours in line to finally see someone.
On Tuesday, a family had to wait 40 hours near Canada’s passport offices to finally get their passport.
Individuals are bringing tents and camping equipment as they often have to wait for over 24h.
On Wednesday, the media was “banned” from filming on the premises as increasing attention is being paid to the Canadian government’s fiasco over the passports.
While the Liberal government is facing scrutiny over its handling of passports, it is also under heavy scrutiny for delays and backlogs in Canadian airports which have left travellers stranded for hours, sometimes days.
Despite the end of restrictions around the world, Canada is maintaining the need for incoming travellers to use the ArriveCan app, and is continuing to require vaccination for foreign travellers.
