Ottawa: The federal government has announced to launch four new passport service sites across Canada to clear a colossal backlog of passport applications.
Social Development Minister Karina Gould announced on Wednesday that people will now be able to use service at Canada’s four new locations to apply for their passports and pick up. These locations include Red Deer, Alta., Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Trois-Rivières, Que., and Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Following unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic nearly 1.1 million applications are pending for new and renewed passports.
“This is a big and significant change. People living in urban areas like us don’t realise how lucky we are to live so close to the passport office,” the minister said.
Karina Gould said that with this initiatives of the government, the backlog is expected to reduce soon.