In an effort to ease congestion at many passport offices across the country, the federal government is implementing changes with the hopes of greater efficiency in reducing long lineups outside the offices.

Some would-be travellers will now be able to request their mail-in applications be transferred to any of the more than 300 local Service Canada centres for processing.

Until now, applicants could only ask for a transfer by visiting one of 35 specialized passport sites or by contacting a call centre.

Social Development Minister Karina Gould says the change will speed up processing times for overdue passports and shorten the lineups for urgent requests at passport offices.