Canadians will soon be able to renew their passports online

Renewing your passport is about to get so much easier.

During a May 10 press conference, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould announced that Service Canada will soon be processing renewals online.

"IRCC will be launching the new online application, it will only be for renewal," she stated. "It's only for people that have had a passport previously."

Those who are applying for a passport for the first time are still required to go to a passport office or apply by mail.

The new feature is expected to streamline the process and reduce delays.

So how will it work?

You'll simply have to upload your passport online when applying for a renewal.

Service Canada has struggled with delays after the recent federal strike and the surge of applications last year.

"It was one of the lessons learned from the experiences," said Gould. "We needed to modernize the passport delivery system in Canada."

Last year, only 15 per cent of passport applications were renewals.

During the press conference, the government also announced plans to revamp Canadian passports.

Canada just unveiled new passports with several high-tech features https://t.co/Ph4rZm96ak #Canada #Passport

— blogTO (@blogTO) May 10, 2023

The new design will include state-of-the-art security features and anti-tampering techniques in an effort to prevent counterfeiting.