This is what happens when a bureaucrat is so focused on being inclusive that they make a stupid decision based on the very small number of travelers who don't have access to the internet or are not comfortable with technology
This took so long to announce and roll out and it was still so poorly done. Would also assume taxpayers are paying a large amount for this phone service which makes the situation even worse. People would start protesting if Canada stopped issuing permits and visas. There have been delays and there were petitions, twitter campaigns, protests, etc. when processing was stopped or slowed down in the spring/summer. International students contribute a lot to the economy and school budgets so many schools pushed hard to have international students enter Canada even if studying online. Temporary workers are vital for certain industries so there would be serious consequences to things like our food supply if visas/permits were not processed . There are minimal private refugee applications being processed/being approved at the moment. Most are stuck in processing for various reasons like not being able to do interviews.
