Canada

As you just pointed out, a lot of people aren't renewing. I specifically said "apply".

Looking at that list, the requirements do seem to have been updated. But as you again pointed out, they're also very unclear. It's not exactly well defined what half of that stuff even is.

I went through this process nine months ago - because these rules technically went into effect over a year back, but then the government hemmed and hawed on whether or not to actually enforce them because they were so confused about what they had actually done - and I went as far as to speak with the consulate in Toronto and with a friend of a friend who works in the actual passport office in the UK just to get clarification on this stuff and it was still a mess of contradictions. I ended up having to track down someone I knew from my childhood who is a notary now and get them to write a document saying that I am who I say I am.