As Canadians eager to travel after two years of pandemic restrictions look forward, one expert says that long wait times for passport renewals and at airports will be the "new normal" for those taking vacations this summer.

Martin Firestone, head of Travel Secure, a Toronto-based travel insurance brokerage, told CTV's Your Morning on Wednesday that there simply aren’t enough staff in key airport areas, such as baggage claim, check-in, and security, to handle the sudden surge in travelers.

Firestone said, "Welcome to the new normal. Travel seems bigger than ever before. Unfortunately, the infrastructure hasn’t been the same as before. Now people are facing long lines and experiencing issues, most notably missing flights."

The problems began in recent days, and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) confirmed to CTV News Toronto on Monday that the agency is facing staffing issues.

CATSA said in a statement: "As air travel recovers, we observe simultaneous peaks, which can lead to passengers being overwhelmed at more than one security checkpoint at once, making resource redistribution to manage these passenger volumes more challenging."

Firestone says arriving early at the airport is the best strategy to overcome long wait times.

In a statement to CTV's Your Morning, the Transport Minister’s office said it is aware of these airport issues and is working with CATSA to "implement additional measures and resources to address delays and other issues generally."

"Our government recognizes that as the sector continues to recover, adjustments continue to be made to support normal travel levels. We will continue support at all levels and ask travelers to be patient as we work with CATSA to resolve this issue,"

Nevertheless, Firestone said he does not expect the problems to be fixed before the summer travel season due to time constraints and the many issues that require time to be studied and resolved.