As summer grows ever closer, Canadians are becoming more and more interested in travelling again — but with reported delays in acquiring or renewing a passport unlikely to end any time soon, understanding the process is key.
At the moment, if you visit the page on the government website pertaining to passports, a notification at the top of the page reveals that they are “experiencing very high call volumes right now.”
“Wait times are longer than usual,” the alert states. “If you do not have travel plans in the next 2 weeks, we suggest you wait to call us.”
Some of the delays are due to the increased interest in travel compared to the last two years of the pandemic. Between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, Service Canada issued around 363,000 passports, but from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, the agency issued 1,273,000 passports, according to a spokesperson.
One family that began renewing their passports in February told CTV News that they didn’t receive the last one until April, just days before a trip for which passports were required.
So how does one renew or acquire a passport in Canada, and how are those processes currently being affected?
RENEWING A PASSPORT
QUALIFYING
Only adult passports can be renewed, according to the Canadian government’s website. Those under 16 will need to apply for a new child’s passport instead of a renewal.
Adult passports can only be renewed if they have were issued within the last 15 years, and have the same gender marker, name, date of birth and place of birth as you would like on your new passport. Otherwise, an adult must apply for a new passport.
If you’re still unsure if you qualify for renewal, the government has a quiz you can take on their site to ensure you fit the requirements.
WHAT YOU NEED ON YOUR APPLICATION
All applicants for a renewal need to fill out an application form (which can be found online), have passport photos taken, and find two references who are not a family member and who have known you for at least two years. They also can’t be a spouse or common-law partner, or anyone related to a spouse or common-law partner, and they must be older than 18 and agree to you using their name and contact information on your application.
The photographer who takes the passport photos must write their name, their complete address and the date when the photos were taken on the back of one of the photos.
You must also turn in your old passport with the application, with the exception of cases in which it was lost or stolen.
This is a new development – prior to last month, if your passport was stolen, lost or had expired more than a year ago, you would have to apply for a new passport. Part of this was because the renewal application asks for the date your passport was issued, as well as the expiration date and the passport number, which many would not know without their old passport at hand. But at the end of March, the government announced that if your passport was stolen, lost, damaged, or had expired within the last 15 years, you would now be able to apply for a renewal, which is much simpler than applying for a new passport.
“As international travel resumes, we need to continue to modernize and improve our passport services to make sure we meet the needs of Canadians,” Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said in a press release at the time.
To renew a passport or apply for one, it costs $120 or $160, depending on whether you are applying for a five or ten year passport.
For those who need a passport quickly, there are additional fees associated with obtaining a passport in under 10 days. If you are required to show proof of travel, this can include an airline ticket, a travel itinerary with proof of payment, or proof of death or illness in the family that requires immediate travel.
“Depending on the reason for your travel, you may need to show further proof that your situation is urgent,” the website states.
APPLYING FOR A NEW PASSPORT
QUALIFYING
To qualify for a new passport, you must be a Canadian citizen and older than 16 years of age to apply for an adult passport. Children under the age of 16 can receive a child’s passport, which last for a maximum of five years and cannot be renewed.
Always check first to see if you qualify to renew your adult passport, as it is a simpler process than applying for a brand new one.
WHAT YOU NEED ON YOUR APPLICATION
There are many more requirements for a new passport than for a renewal.
The first thing all applicants need is to fill out a passport application form, which can be found online.
Then you’ll need one piece of proof of Canadian citizenship. Crucially, you have to submit original documents, not photocopies or photos, which will be returned to you once verified. Things that count as proof include a birth certificate if you were born in Canada, a Canadian citizenship certificate, a certificate of naturalization, a certificate of registration of birth abroad or a certificate of retention of Canadian citizenship.
There may also be province or territory-specific documents which can be accepted as proof of citizenship. Proof of citizenship can have either your new or old name on it if you are seeking a passport with a new name.
Aside from the proof of citizenship, you also need to provide at least one document proving your identity (more are required if you are changing your name). Documents that count include driver’s licenses, health cards, military IDs, and foreign passports, among others. These should include your name, date of birth, photo and signature, and if you have no one ID with all of these, you can submit more than one piece of ID to fill the gap as long as they have a common element to link them.
A passport application also needs two identical passport photos taken to the proper photo requirements. A detailed list of what makes an acceptable passport photo can be found on the government’s website, but many businesses offer passport photography to cut down the risk of having an improperly formatted picture.
Like with a renewal, you need two references, but you also need a single guarantor. This person can be anyone, including a family member or member of your household, as long as they fit the other requirements.
The guarantor must have known you for at least two years, be available to contact, be a Canadian citizen older than 18, have a five or 10-year Canadian passport of their own and be willing to provide their own passport information.
Your guarantor must sign your application, one of your passport photos and all copies of any supporting identity documents.
Depending on why you are applying for a new passport — such as if you want to omit your place of birth, have changed your name or are updating your gender marker — you may be required to submit other documents pertaining to those issues alongside the base requirements. Details on these extra documents can be found on the government’s website.
WHERE TO SUMBIT YOUR APPLICATION FOR A NEW PASSPORT OR RENEWAL
The process itself depends on if you are applying for a passport from within Canada or from the U.S. or abroad elsewhere. If you are outside of Canada, you may be able to apply by mail, but otherwise should inquire at the nearest Government of Canada office in the region you are in.
In Canada, there are a few different ways to process an application, and officials recommend different strategies depending on how quickly you require a passport. For far off trips greater than 26 business days or more, you can apply by mail or by either booking an appointment online at a Service Canada Centre or by just walking in if the Service Canada isn’t very busy.
However, Service Canada won’t be of any help if you need a passport acquired or renewed urgently. For those who need a passport within the next two business days, you must apply in person at a passport office — and while some Service Canada locations are consolidated and include a dedicated passport office, many passport offices are separate. A tool online can help you find a passport office near your location.
If you are applying for a new passport urgently, you must provide proof that you require it in two business days or less.
In the case of needing a passport within 3-25 days, officials recommend making an appointment at one of the 35 specialized passport service locations. You must have proof of travel or need, and you can find a list of all of these specialized passport sites in each province on the government’s website.
WHAT IT’S LIKE TRYING TO APPLY NOW
It already sounds like a lot of work, but according to reported delays, it’s particularly difficult right now to acquire or renew a passport.
Some have reported waiting in long lines at passport offices to try and file an application or renewal — something you can avoid by applying early enough in advance. If you apply at least 26 business days in advance, you can attend a Service Canada Centre instead of a specialized passport site.
But if possible, you should try to apply earlier than that to minimize the risk of delays affecting your plans.
According to Service Canada, the standard processing time for regular passport applications submitted in Canada is 10 business days when submitted in person at a passport office and 20 business days when submitted by mail or in person at a Service Canada Centre, not including mailing time.
As of April 18, Employment and Social Development Canada says the average processing time is five and 25 days respectively.
If you have submitted an application over 20 business days ago and still haven’t heard back, there is a tool to check the status of your application.
___
Get in touch
Have you had to cancel travel plans due to passport processing delays? Email dotcom@bellmedia.ca.
Please include your name, location, and contact information if you are willing to speak to a journalist with CTV News.
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. syphilis epidemic slowed dramatically last year, gonorrhea cases fell and chlamydia cases remained below prepandemic levels, according to federal data released Tuesday.
The numbers represented some good news about sexually transmitted diseases, which experienced some alarming increases in past years due to declining condom use, inadequate sex education, and reduced testing and treatment when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Last year, cases of the most infectious stages of syphilis fell 10% from the year before — the first substantial decline in more than two decades. Gonorrhea cases dropped 7%, marking a second straight year of decline and bringing the number below what it was in 2019.
“I’m encouraged, and it’s been a long time since I felt that way” about the nation’s epidemic of sexually transmitted infections, said the CDC’s Dr. Jonathan Mermin. “Something is working.”
More than 2.4 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia were diagnosed and reported last year — 1.6 million cases of chlamydia, 600,000 of gonorrhea, and more than 209,000 of syphilis.
Syphilis is a particular concern. For centuries, it was a common but feared infection that could deform the body and end in death. New cases plummeted in the U.S. starting in the 1940s when infection-fighting antibiotics became widely available, and they trended down for a half century after that. By 2002, however, cases began rising again, with men who have sex with other men being disproportionately affected.
The new report found cases of syphilis in their early, most infectious stages dropped 13% among gay and bisexual men. It was the first such drop since the agency began reporting data for that group in the mid-2000s.
However, there was a 12% increase in the rate of cases of unknown- or later-stage syphilis — a reflection of people infected years ago.
Cases of syphilis in newborns, passed on from infected mothers, also rose. There were nearly 4,000 cases, including 279 stillbirths and infant deaths.
“This means pregnant women are not being tested often enough,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California.
What caused some of the STD trends to improve? Several experts say one contributor is the growing use of an antibiotic as a “morning-after pill.” Studies have shown that taking doxycycline within 72 hours of unprotected sex cuts the risk of developing syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia.
In June, the CDC started recommending doxycycline as a morning-after pill, specifically for gay and bisexual men and transgender women who recently had an STD diagnosis. But health departments and organizations in some cities had been giving the pills to people for a couple years.
Some experts believe that the 2022 mpox outbreak — which mainly hit gay and bisexual men — may have had a lingering effect on sexual behavior in 2023, or at least on people’s willingness to get tested when strange sores appeared.
Another factor may have been an increase in the number of health workers testing people for infections, doing contact tracing and connecting people to treatment. Congress gave $1.2 billion to expand the workforce over five years, including $600 million to states, cities and territories that get STD prevention funding from CDC.
Last year had the “most activity with that funding throughout the U.S.,” said David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors.
However, Congress ended the funds early as a part of last year’s debt ceiling deal, cutting off $400 million. Some people already have lost their jobs, said a spokeswoman for Harvey’s organization.
Still, Harvey said he had reasons for optimism, including the growing use of doxycycline and a push for at-home STD test kits.
Also, there are reasons to think the next presidential administration could get behind STD prevention. In 2019, then-President Donald Trump announced a campaign to “eliminate” the U.S. HIV epidemic by 2030. (Federal health officials later clarified that the actual goal was a huge reduction in new infections — fewer than 3,000 a year.)
There were nearly 32,000 new HIV infections in 2022, the CDC estimates. But a boost in public health funding for HIV could also also help bring down other sexually transmitted infections, experts said.
“When the government puts in resources, puts in money, we see declines in STDs,” Klausner said.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists can’t know precisely when a volcano is about to erupt, but they can sometimes pick up telltale signs.
That happened two years ago with the world’s largest active volcano. About two months before Mauna Loa spewed rivers of glowing orange molten lava, geologists detected small earthquakes nearby and other signs, and they warned residents on Hawaii‘s Big Island.
Now a study of the volcano’s lava confirms their timeline for when the molten rock below was on the move.
“Volcanoes are tricky because we don’t get to watch directly what’s happening inside – we have to look for other signs,” said Erik Klemetti Gonzalez, a volcano expert at Denison University, who was not involved in the study.
Upswelling ground and increased earthquake activity near the volcano resulted from magma rising from lower levels of Earth’s crust to fill chambers beneath the volcano, said Kendra Lynn, a research geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and co-author of a new study in Nature Communications.
When pressure was high enough, the magma broke through brittle surface rock and became lava – and the eruption began in late November 2022. Later, researchers collected samples of volcanic rock for analysis.
The chemical makeup of certain crystals within the lava indicated that around 70 days before the eruption, large quantities of molten rock had moved from around 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) to 3 miles (5 kilometers) under the summit to a mile (2 kilometers) or less beneath, the study found. This matched the timeline the geologists had observed with other signs.
The last time Mauna Loa erupted was in 1984. Most of the U.S. volcanoes that scientists consider to be active are found in Hawaii, Alaska and the West Coast.
Worldwide, around 585 volcanoes are considered active.
Scientists can’t predict eruptions, but they can make a “forecast,” said Ben Andrews, who heads the global volcano program at the Smithsonian Institution and who was not involved in the study.
Andrews compared volcano forecasts to weather forecasts – informed “probabilities” that an event will occur. And better data about the past behavior of specific volcanos can help researchers finetune forecasts of future activity, experts say.
(asterisk)We can look for similar patterns in the future and expect that there’s a higher probability of conditions for an eruption happening,” said Klemetti Gonzalez.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Waymo on Tuesday opened its robotaxi service to anyone who wants a ride around Los Angeles, marking another milestone in the evolution of self-driving car technology since the company began as a secret project at Google 15 years ago.
The expansion comes eight months after Waymo began offering rides in Los Angeles to a limited group of passengers chosen from a waiting list that had ballooned to more than 300,000 people. Now, anyone with the Waymo One smartphone app will be able to request a ride around an 80-square-mile (129-square-kilometer) territory spanning the second largest U.S. city.
After Waymo received approval from California regulators to charge for rides 15 months ago, the company initially chose to launch its operations in San Francisco before offering a limited service in Los Angeles.
Before deciding to compete against conventional ride-hailing pioneers Uber and Lyft in California, Waymo unleashed its robotaxis in Phoenix in 2020 and has been steadily extending the reach of its service in that Arizona city ever since.
Driverless rides are proving to be more than just a novelty. Waymo says it now transports more than 50,000 weekly passengers in its robotaxis, a volume of business numbers that helped the company recently raise $5.6 billion from its corporate parent Alphabet and a list of other investors that included venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz and financial management firm T. Rowe Price.
“Our service has matured quickly and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving,” Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said in a blog post.
Despite its inroads, Waymo is still believed to be losing money. Although Alphabet doesn’t disclose Waymo’s financial results, the robotaxi is a major part of an “Other Bets” division that had suffered an operating loss of $3.3 billion through the first nine months of this year, down from a setback of $4.2 billion at the same time last year.
But Waymo has come a long way since Google began working on self-driving cars in 2009 as part of project “Chauffeur.” Since its 2016 spinoff from Google, Waymo has established itself as the clear leader in a robotaxi industry that’s getting more congested.
Electric auto pioneer Tesla is aiming to launch a rival “Cybercab” service by 2026, although its CEO Elon Musk said he hopes the company can get the required regulatory clearances to operate in Texas and California by next year.
Tesla’s projected timeline for competing against Waymo has been met with skepticism because Musk has made unfulfilled promises about the company’s self-driving car technology for nearly a decade.
Meanwhile, Waymo’s robotaxis have driven more than 20 million fully autonomous miles and provided more than 2 million rides to passengers without encountering a serious accident that resulted in its operations being sidelined.
That safety record is a stark contrast to one of its early rivals, Cruise, a robotaxi service owned by General Motors. Cruise’s California license was suspended last year after one of its driverless cars in San Francisco dragged a jaywalking pedestrian who had been struck by a different car driven by a human.
Cruise is now trying to rebound by joining forces with Uber to make some of its services available next year in U.S. cities that still haven’t been announced. But Waymo also has forged a similar alliance with Uber to dispatch its robotaxi in Atlanta and Austin, Texas next year.
Another robotaxi service, Amazon’s Zoox, is hoping to begin offering driverless rides to the general public in Las Vegas at some point next year before also launching in San Francisco.
