Thank you for the question.
I want to assure you that I take this issue very seriously.
Let me clarify something. Every year there is a winter spike, but this year we saw a 25% increase over last year due to closures caused by the Omicron variant.
We had indeed anticipated the normal increase in applications, but the Omicron variant wave, of course, took the whole country by surprise. The increase was significant. Despite this, we had increased the number of staff and agents at the call centre in preparation for the winter peak. I can assure you that we are mobilizing all the necessary resources to be able to respond to the increasing demands.
The numbers you mentioned are not necessarily good. Some cases are being processed, but not everyone is waiting for benefits. Some people have gone back to work while others had opened a file but did not need to apply.
As I mentioned, if you know of anyone who is not getting a response within a time frame that meets service standards, you can email me, and we will follow up.