Canada Post launched an investigation after people complained they hadn't received their passports. (CBC)Charges were pending against a Canada Post worker in Gatineau, Que., on Friday after about 70 Ontario passport applications full of personal information vanished in the mail.

"They found a thief among us, which we are not proud of, but he's been identified," said Canada Post spokesman John Caines. "He's been passed over to the police. … Looks like he's been doing this for awhile."

Passport Canada's offices are in Gatineau.

Caines said the man, who no longer works for Canada Post, is expected to be charged with theft in connection with several bags of mail.

All of them, including a package of passport applications, have been recovered, Caines said. They were being kept by police for evidence.

Gatineau police turned over the names of the victims to Canada Post and Passport Canada last week.

The two federal agencies were contacting everyone who lost an application. Canada Post is paying to register the names of the applicants with an agency that watches for identity theft and is also offering $100 toward the cost of reapplying for a passport. The fees for applying range from $87 to $92 for adults living in Canada.

Bulk mailing through MP

Bill Godlouski fears identity theft after his passport application went missing. (CBC)Bill Godlouski and Donna Dearden of Simcoe, Ont., about 50 kilometres southwest of Hamilton, said they applied for passports in August. Their forms, along with those of more than 70 others, were mailed in bulk from the office of MP Diane Finley but never reached their destination.

Godlouski is afraid their identities will be stolen and used to commit fraud, given the important numbers available on the forms.

"The credit card was there, the birth certificate, the driver's licence," he said. "And there's a lot of important information. Plus my social security number was there."

Caines said there is no evidence anyone's identity has, in fact, been stolen.

"All the documents are secure and we're taking care of these people as quickly as we possibly can."

Canada Post launched an investigation after people started complaining their passports hadn't arrived. A postal security team managed to track down a suspect.