The Ministry of Employment and Social Development said it is processing more than 100,000 overdue claims, says Martin Courtemanche who left his job on December 6, 2021 after suffering from depression "I am in a critical situation" It has been more than six months since he filed his employment insurance claim, and he has not received any payments yet. He added, "I have to ask myself how I will pay my rent." "I am lucky to have some savings. I have maxed out my credit cards. This is how I stay alive."

While Service Canada is drowning in a passport processing setback, delays in obtaining employment insurance are also increasing. Many unemployed people say they have not received a single cent, after several months of submitting their claims.

Service Canada representatives who spoke to Courtemanche initially explained that the pandemic caused the delay, before telling him that there was a missing document from his file: a termination of employment letter.

He said, "I ended the call and just wanted to cry."

Courtemanche finally appealed to the Mouvement Action-Chômage de Montréal. The organization tried to help him and confirmed that he is not the only person in this situation.

Pierre Serre, spokesperson for the National Council of Unemployed and Underemployed Workers, who has been working in this field for nearly 40 years, said: "It's a mess."

He added: "Delays have always been part of the equation; bureaucracy is complicated, and we do not always understand the reason."

The Ministry of Employment and Social Development stated that as of June 18, there were 128,739 pending claims for employment insurance benefits. From April 1 to May 31, most of them - 71.8 percent - were settled in less than 28 days.

But for more than 20,000 Canadians, the delay in receiving the first payment exceeds three months, according to data obtained by the Bloc Québécois through an access to information request.

Karina Gould, Minister of Children, Families and Social Development and responsible for Service Canada, says the more complex cases require verification and that many identity theft cases have slowed the process.

She told Radio Canada: "The situation in Quebec in particular is the result of fraud by the private sector."

Judith Côté, Vice President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, an organization representing thousands of officers, says the staffing shortage is not a problem. She said: "We have never had as many staff as we currently do at Service Canada, yet I think we have rarely been ineffective." Some employees are being called to support their colleagues in other public service departments. Côté also added, "Workers at Service Canada received an email asking if we have experience in processing passports to lend a hand to the passport administration," referring to the long queues of travelers eagerly awaiting their passports.

Service Canada told Courtemanche in recent days that his employment insurance claim has been processed and approved. He recently got a job, but he is still waiting for thousands of dollars owed to him, and he laughed, adding: "I have no intention of quitting my job so I don't have to see the employment insurance staff at Service Canada again."

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair