I can answer that question.
The withheld service period that is usually imposed on individuals is five years from the date of the incident. We take administrative investigations very seriously.
We know there's a charter right to travel. Canadians have a charter right to travel, so even while they're on withheld service during that five-year period, we let the individual apply for a one-time passport to visit a relative in another country for urgent, compelling, compassionate reasons. They can have as many of those as they want during that withheld period of service; they just can't have a permanent passport for a five-year period.
We're quite cognizant of the fact that individuals still need to travel, and we do approve urgent, compelling, compassionate passport applications, but usually it's a five-year period of withheld service.