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 Travel & Outdoors | June 2007 
Ottawa Moves to Simplify Passport Application Process
 Meagan Fitzpatrick - CanWest News Service
| | A passenger holds his Canadian passport before boarding a flight to the United States, at the Ottawa, Ont. airport. (CPimages/Tom Hanson) |
Ottawa - The government announced a series of measures on Friday to simplify the passport application process and to cut down on the backlog that has been mounting since new travel rules were introduced by the United States in January.
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Canadians will be able to renew their passports without having to show proof of citizenship or getting a guarantor to sign the application. "This will very much expedite the process," MacKay told reporters at a news conference.
Ottawa is also changing the rules on who can act as a guarantor for passport applications. The new policy will allow most Canadian adult passport holders to act as guarantors for first-time applicants.
To help reduce waiting times for passports, MacKay said the government is launching a recruitment campaign to fill new full-time positions, extending office hours, opening 65 new receiving agents, and expanding office space for existing passport offices.
The government also plans on holding passport clinics across the country where the public can ask questions and hand in their applications.
The announcement comes in the wake of a U.S. decision, which was also announced Friday, to ease up on its passport rules in order to clear a backlog of applications.
The American administration is temporarily suspending its rule requiring U.S. air travellers to carry passports when flying to and from Canada, Mexico and Caribbean destinations for the next six months. But the rule requiring Canadian travellers to have a passport to enter the U.S. by air still stands.
Under the changes, Americans will be still allowed to fly to and from Canada if they can show border officials a receipt proving they have applied for a passport.
The move was triggered by growing fears of chaos at airports for travellers during the upcoming summer holiday season.
Since the passport requirement for air travel came into effect in January, U.S. border officials have provided leeway to many Canadian travellers without passports, allowing them to enter with only a driver's licence or birth certificate during an extended grace period.
But a U.S. administration official said on Thursday that Canadians should not assume leniency will continue.
"There have been instances where Customs and Border Patrol has exercised its discretion to admit individuals in unique circumstances," the official said. "But that should not, in anyone's mind, supplant or replace the need to bring a passport."
Like many Canadians, Americans have experienced extensive delays in receiving their passports since the U.S. government began requiring the document for air travel to Canadian, Mexican and Caribbean destinations in January.
Passport offices in both countries have been flooded with applications and people have stood in line for hours at offices.
The Canadian government has been under pressure to do more to ease the burden and a few weeks ago MacKay indicated that Passport Canada had hired 500 new staff to try and clear the backlog.
Current waiting times to receive a Canadian passport are two weeks for in-person applications and up to 10 weeks for applications received by mail.
The passport requirements have been a growing source of tension between Ottawa and Washington, with the Conservative government complaining the Bush administration is rushing to implement the plan before putting the proper technology and infrastructure in place.
Business groups fear the passport rule's looming implementation at the land border will create turmoil for cross-border commerce and devastate border communities that rely on residents being able to travel unfettered between Canada and the U.S. |
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