Two new passport offices open in Ontario to help end months-long application delays

If you've recently renewed your passport or are looking to, you may not have to wait an excruciatingly long time.

The Government of Canada has opened five new locations for people to come pick up their passports - and two of the new locations are in Ontario.

The first location is in Brampton at 40 Gillingham Drive and the second is in Whitby at 1615 Dundas Street East. Ontarians can request to pick up their passport in-person at these locations, instead of having to travel outside of their own towns or cities.

This is what the line to renew a passport at Service Canada in Toronto looks like 😳 #Toronto #ServiceCanada pic.twitter.com/YVhTmXQNlM

— blogTO (@blogTO) April 20, 2022

It's important to note these offices already existed, but didn't have an option for people to come and pick up their applications in-person until now. 

"As we work to reduce the backlog and bring service standards back to normal, we will take every measure we can to make the experience better for Canadians, and make our services more accessible," read the news release from the federal government.

Passport offices are just one of many institutions facing prolonged backlogs and long wait times as travels trends continue to creep towards pre-2019 levels.

Some offices in Toronto are reporting a three-hour wait and are fast-tracking applications and renewals for those with vacations in the next two weeks.

As of April 1, the feds say Service Canada has issued over 605,000 passports with almost 50,000 issued in the last week.