The federal government plans to keep the extra service centres it set up to clear the pandemic backlog as it prepares for an influx of passport renewals this summer.

Earlier this month, the federal minister responsible for passport services declared the national backlog had been cleared. The extra sites and services set up to do that will remain, Karina Gould said Friday during an unrelated visit to Winnipeg.

The government extended hours at Service Canada passport offices and added 20 sites across the country where applications could be picked up or expedited, as well as making it easier to go through the process online.

“The increased capacity will remain because we know that we have increased demand. What’s typical in the passport cycle is, you know when cohorts of passports are expiring. The pandemic was different because for two and a half years, people who would’ve normally applied for a passport didn’t or were unable to,” said Gould.

That led to a “massive increase in applications once travel restrictions were lifted,” she said.

“But we’re back into a more normal rhythm.”

Last spring and summer, about 85 per cent of passport applications were for new passports, which are more complicated than renewals, Gould said.

In July, Canada’s first 10-year passports are set to expire. They were first made available on July 1, 2013.

“What we see coming is a greater volume of renewals, but nonetheless, we’re maintaining that capacity, because we know how important it is to make sure that Canadians can rely on their passport services. We are delivering passports both in mail and in person 99 per cent of the time within the service standards, and those that aren’t, it’s usually because there are additional complications that need additional work,” Gould said.

— Staff