“Good luck.”
That’s the advice Jeff Gates has for anyone planning to visit a passport office this week.
On Wednesday, he showed up at the Kitchener location at 4:12 am and found 20 people already lined up outside.
By the time the Frederick and Weber Street office opened at 8:30 am there were approximately 150 people waiting to file inside.
“My daughter was here Monday, and she showed up at 7 am and was told she wouldn’t get in,” Gates told CTV News. “So we decided today to show up much earlier.”
He said his daughter is a student at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
“We’re a little concerned that if she doesn’t get her passport in time, she won’t be able to get ready for school this fall. She goes back[and] starts classes on August 29.”
The people at the front of the line on Wednesday told CTV News they arrived around 3 am
One man, who was fifth to get in, said he was at a passport office in Toronto around 1 am but he “didn’t like his chances” so he traveled to the Kitchener location.
People waiting in line outside Kitchener’s passport office. (Submitted: Jeff Gates)
Brady Campbell joined the line at 7:30 am He told CTV News he needed to travel to Michigan in two weeks for a baseball tournament.
“Hoping to get it and I don’t have to pay a fee,” he added.
Those waiting outside were let into the building around 7:30 am, a full hour before the passport office officially opened.
PASSPORT PROBLEMS
The demand for passport applications has soared in recent months as Canada and other countries around the world lifted their COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
Some aspiring travelers have had to reschedule or cancel their plans as they face long lines at their local passport offices. There are even people offering to stand in line for passport applications – for a price.
One Vancouver woman told CTV News she purchased a round-trip flight to Edmonton in order to get her documents ahead of a Las Vegas trip.
A statement from Service Canada in May stated they had hired 600 new employees to process passport applications and also added dedicated passport counters at some centres.
— With files from CTV News