Getting a passport will be much easier for Islanders starting this fall after Employment and Social Development Canada installs a specialized printer in Charlottetown.

The travel document can currently be processed at the Service Canada centre in Charlottetown, but printing had to be done at the agency’s office in Halifax. The passports would then be sent to the Island by courier service.

Charlottetown MP Sean Casey said he’s been pushing to get a full-service passport office in this province since he was first elected in 2011. He said the addition of new printing technology in P.E.I.’s capital city means it will no longer be necessary for Islanders to travel to a passport office outside the province.

With the new equipment, Casey said, processing can be completed as quickly as the end of the next business day for an additional fee. That’s compared to five to seven business days currently, with 10 days being the service standard.

“There’s a limited number of [full-service offices] right across the country, and Charlottetown has been on the list for a while,” Casey said. “Our turn is up.”

Casey described the printer as highly specialized and state-of-the-art, capable of printing all the necessary security features that ensure a passport can’t be forged.

Federal officials told CBC News the printer has already been purchased and will be located at the Jean Canfield Building on Great George Street in Charlottetown. Renovations are being made in the building to accommodate the equipment. 

“Service Canada continues to examine and implement every possible option across Canada to improve the intake and processing of passport applications,” a spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada said in an email.

“Service Canada is also committed to provide in-person passport services within 50 km of the homes of nearly all Canadians. 

The federal government has also started a new policy that gives applicants a full refund if it takes more than 30 business days to process a passport.

Casey said having a printer available in the province will be more convenient and less expensive than travelling off-Island.

“When you’re ready to go away for a trip and you find out that your passports expired … you phone your member of Parliament to say, ‘What can I do?'” Casey said.

“And I have to give to you the bad news that what you can do is get in your car and drive to another province.” 

Casey said the printer arriving in the fall has been “a long time coming.”

“I very much look forward to the day that it actually comes to fruition, and something that I’ve been working on for some time,” he said. “Islanders deserve it.”