Minister Gould announces 10-day passport service now available at Service Canada Centre in Prince George, British Columbia

GATINEAU, QC, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Service Canada staff continue to work hard to improve services to Canadians by introducing new measures to enhance passport service delivery.

Today, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, announced that the Service Canada Centre in Prince George, British Columbia, has been designated as a passport pick–up location. This is in addition to the 13 other locations across the country that were announced last fall.

Unlike regular Service Canada Centres that offer 20day service, these 14 locations offer 10–day passport service, where Canadians can apply for a passport and pick it up in 10 business days, or receive it by mail (mail time not included). If Canadians need their passport in less than 10 business days, they need to visit a passport office that offers express or urgent pick-up service.

Effective immediately, Canadians can now apply for and pick up their passport at the following 14 Service Canada Centres:

• Barrie, Ontario
• Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
• Fort McMurray, Alberta
• Kingston, Ontario
• Lethbridge, Alberta
• Moncton, New Brunswick
• Prince George, British Columbia
• Red Deer, Alberta
• Rimouski, Quebec
• Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
• Sherbrooke, Québec.
• Sudbury, Ontario
• Trois-Rivères, Québec
• Whitehorse, Yukon

The expansion of 10-day pick-up sites helps make passport services more accessible to all Canadians, with an end goal of providing the service within 50 km of the applicant's home.

Quotes

"Service Canada is committed to constantly improving service quality, accessibility and timeliness. We will continue to expand the network of Service Canada Centres that offer 10–day passport pick–up service, bringing service closer to home for all Canadians."
– Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould

Quick Facts

• In the 2022–23 fiscal year, Service Canada issued 3.35 million passports.
• For the 2023–24 fiscal year, between 4.3 and 4.9 million passports are forecast to be issued.
• Since the launch on August 15, 2022, the 13 Service Canada Centres offering 10-day passport service have processed over 85,000 passport applications.
• The service standard for in-person application and pick–up at specialized passport offices is 10 business days. For mail–in applications and applications submitted at Service Canada Centres, the service standard is 20 business days. The performance target for application processing is for 90% of complete applications to be processed within these service standards.
• Passport Program statistics are published online, and all data is updated weekly.

Associated Links 

Passport application status checker
Minister Gould announces a return to steady state on passport delivery and encourages Canadians to renew ahead of 10-year passports expiry
Backgrounder on passport services
Canadian passports and travel documents 
Find a Service Canada Office
Welcome to the eServiceCanada Appointment Booking Tool
Passport Program statistics 
Canadian Passport Program on Twitter

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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

For media enquiries, please contact: Philippe-Alexandre Langlois, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]