The federal task force created to improve service delays says that after spending the summer addressing the significant lineups and wait times experienced by Canadians at airports, passport offices, and those waiting for immigration applications to be processed, the situation is starting to improve but “we’re not out of the woods yet.”
“There’s a lot of work to do and in some cases, we aren’t up to the pre-pandemic service level that Canadians expect and deserve,” said task force co-chair, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller during a press conference on Monday.
Providing an update on the progress made so far, the government touted improvements including:
hiring more than 700 new staff for passport offices;
decreasing passport call centre wait times;
setting up more passport “pick-up services and triage measures”;
hiring 1,800 more security screening officers at airports;
decreasing flight delays,cancellations and baggage woes; and
hiring 1,250 new staff to tackle the backlog and accelerate processing immigration applications.
Miller acknowledged that the situation experienced by Canadians this spring and early summer “should never have happened,” and that in some areas the federal Liberals were “slow in responding.”
In assessing what prompted this service delivery crisis, task force co-chair, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien said Monday that it was the result of demand far exceeding the federal government’s capacity to respond. It’s a situation being experienced in other countries as well, she added.
Ien cited an “unprecedented” surge in Canadians travelling; the impact of having to adjust to international travel restrictions and border closures; and government-wide reduced processing capacity during the pandemic as exacerbating factors. Though, Miller said the government is not looking to blame others—whether airlines or other unprecedented global events like the war in Ukraine straining government service demands—because “a lot of the responsibility did lie on our shoulders.”
“There’s a lot of work to be done, and looking inwards and seeing how we can get that machinery of government back up and going to a service standard. And then looking at the long-term as to what we have to do to fix the problem, whether it is old systems that haven’t been updated for decades, whether it is more people,” Miller said.
He added that these approaches have been taken over the summer to expedite fixes to see people get their passports more quickly, but questioned whether that’s the most effective way to provide a more systemic fix and break down the government’s “silos.”
Monday’s press conference was held alongside the cabinet ministers who have responsibility for tackling the long lines at airports as well as passport and immigration offices: Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould, who is responsible for Service Canada; Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra; Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser; and Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino.
Taking turns highlighting statistics meant to indicate how the situation is turning around, the ministers said they will continue to work on further improving Canadians’ access to these key government services.
“We know that the wait is too long, and in many cases, we need to address it and to return the service standard that our clients—Canada’s future students, workers, permanent residents and citizens— have come to expect,” said the immigration minister about the backlog in processing those files, promising additional measures to help over the next few months.
Asked when Canadians can reliably expect passport turnaround times to return to what they were before the pandemic, Gould said those who have travel planned within 45 days and go to a passport office will receive their passport within 10 days, barring specific security or other complications. She said the challenges remain more with the mail-in application system, often because these submissions don’t have a specific upcoming travel date.
“We’re making considerable progress and we hope to be back to more normal service standards this fall,” Gould said.
In late June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the creation of this task force—a committee comprised of 10 cabinet ministers—acknowledging the “unacceptable” wait times and delays Canadians have been experiencing with passport and immigration applications.
The prime minister tasked the group with reviewing service delivery, identifying gaps and areas for improvement, and making recommendations to improve the quality and efficiency of government services.
The task force has met 10 times since it was struck, and says it has been making changes along the way, but will also be making recommendations to the prime minister through cabinet.
“That is inevitably what will result in any sort of improvements that Canadians deserve,” said Miller.
Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.
“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.
“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.
Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.
Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.
Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.
The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.
As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”
“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.
The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.
Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.
The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.
“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”
Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.
“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.
“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.
“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
