Thank you, Mr. Chair. We thank you for inviting us to discuss chapter 5 of our 2009 status report on passport services.
As you mentioned, I'm accompanied today by Wendy Loschiuk, assistant auditor general, and John Reed, principal, who are responsible for this audit.
We have looked at Passport Canada several times over the last few years in audits on managing identity information, setting government fees, and sharing intelligence. This agency not only provides a very important service to Canadians by issuing the travel documents needed to cross borders but it also plays a role in ensuring our security.
In 2005, we reported that as border security tightened, especially as concerns travel to the United States, Passport Canada had struggled to meet heightened expectations for security and growing demands for service.
We found in 2007 that there was some progress made in addressing our concerns but that the agency still had work to do. Indeed, after the U.S.-imposed Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative phase 1 came into effect in January 2007, Passport Canada found itself unprepared for the overwhelming number of passport applications from Canadians wanting to fly to the United States. As a result, there were significant delays in the processing of passport applications and increased waiting time at passport offices.
Following hearings in 2007, this committee issued a report criticizing the agency's planning for the surge in passport applications. The committee asked for an action plan to detail how Passport Canada would prepare for another possible surge in demand before the next WHTI phase, and I understand that action plan was presented to the committee.
As you know, WHTI phase 2, which requires Canadians and Americans to have a passport to enter the United States by land and sea, came into effect on June 1.
In this Status Report, we looked at actions by the agency since 2007 to identify and correct the problems it had during the first WHTI deadline.
For this chapter, we kept our scope focused on how the agency is getting passports to Canadians who need them. We did not look at security this time.
Our audit found that Passport Canada has taken action to identify what went wrong in 2007 and to address those problems. In our opinion, Passport Canada was better prepared for the western hemisphere travel initiative, phase two, deadline. The agency conducted several lessons-learned exercises to identify causes and solutions. It improved how it forecasts and monitors demand so that it can better react to changes. It increased its capacity for processing and printing passports, streamlined how it managed walk-in applications at its passport offices, and hired more staff.
Passport Canada has been very active in reaching out to Canadians about the need for a passport. It launched a national communications campaign informing Canadians about the June 2009 deadline and encouraging them to apply. It opened clinics in selected communities to reinforce its message and to accept applications.
The agency made it possible for Canadians to submit applications at some Service Canada outlets and local post offices, and it also revamped its website. We found that Passport Canada has taken reasonable steps to do what it can to inform Canadians, improve access, and at the same time try to influence demand for its services.
In our audit we wanted to know what plans the agency has should demand increase beyond current operational capacity. We found that the agency has prepared a broad contingency plan that includes several actions that would be triggered by such things as excessive lineups or delays in standard turnaround times.
Detailed planning was still under way at the time of the audit, but in our opinion there were still some critical gaps. For example, the agency has not yet determined how much its operational capacity would increase by taking certain contingency actions, or what level of excess demand would trigger action. In addition, the agency had not specified who had the authority and responsibility to initiate those contingency actions.
Our status report contained recommendations aimed at helping Passport Canada respond to surges in passport demand, and the agency has agreed with those recommendations. The committee may wish to get further clarification from Passport Canada on the actions they have taken.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening statements. My colleagues and I would be pleased to answer any questions that committee members may have.
Thank you.