Crowds flock to Fredericton passport office after long lines in Montreal
CBC
People lined up outside the Service Canada office in Fredericton on Friday morning, optimistic the wait to apply for a passport would be much shorter than in Montreal.
A day after François Gamache's publicized trip from Montreal to a short line in Fredericton to get a passport, David Nguyen and Vy Nguyen grabbed their dog and raced to New Brunswick from the east end of Montreal on the same mission.
Although they found a Fredericton passport office that was busier than usual, David Nguyen said the Montreal lines were much worse.
"It's so bad," he said. "It's like people are camping outside.The building was bigger than this one, and they were circling [it]."
The two friends drove eight hours to avoid the Montreal lineups — and many other Montrealers had the same idea.
WATCH | Why are Montrealers driving 8 hours to pick up passports in Fredericton?
Dozens of cars with Quebec plates filled the Service Canada parking lot in Fredereicton, and some had arrived as early as 3 a.m.
For Michael Haggerty, a Fredericton resident, it was a much shorter trip, and he picked up his passport successfully just on his lunch break.
"I stood in line for a couple of minutes because there's a bunch of people here from Quebec, but I waited to get in the door and then they just confirmed it was me and handed me my passport."
He scheduled an express passport appointment the last week, where he filled out paperwork and paid the fees.
"It was like a ghost town then. There were maybe six people. And when I walked in there today, there was a line up to get to the commissioner and to even get in the door. … The place is just packed with people."
Some of the Montrealers commended the service in Fredericton.
Vy Nguyen said even getting their passport a month before their planned trip was a nerve-wracking prospect, especially since her sister had to wait seven hours at the Montreal office to get one.
"[It's] too nervous to wait … the whole system doesn't make sense," said Vy Nguyen.
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