🇨🇦 Passport Processed in 30 Days or You Get Your Money Back — Ottawa Discovers Accountability Exists

Starting April 1, the federal government will automatically refund passport fees if applications are not processed within 30 business days, announced Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab. The clock starts when a complete application is received and stops when the passport is printed — mailing time excluded, complex cases excluded, any holds excluded, as outlined by IRCC. A government that has spent a decade treating basic administrative competence as optional has discovered that deadlines and consequences are a concept.

Notice what this policy implicitly admits: that the government has been routinely failing to meet its own service standards, and that without a financial penalty attached, it had no particular urgency to fix that. The existing standard was already 10 to 20 business days depending on location. So the new guarantee gives Ottawa up to 30 business days — 50 per cent more time than the standard — before it owes you anything. This is not accountability. This is a rebranded shrug with a cheque attached if they miss even the extended deadline.

🍁 Maple Chronicles