Canada's Passport Lines Are So Long You Can Now Pay Someone Else To Wait For You
Different "line standers" are charging different rates for their services. đź‘€
Don't want to wait in the giant lines to renew your passport in Canada? No worries, you can just pay someone to stand in line for you!
In response to the extreme delays that are occurring at Service Canada locations all over the country right now, some appear to have spotted a unique freelance job opportunity.
On classified ads website Kijiji, Canadians are offering to stand in line for hours at a time for fees ranging from $20 per hour to $750 per day.
These "freelance line standers" are popping up all over Canada, including in cities facing major delays at passport offices like Vancouver and Toronto.
The individuals are promising to stand in line for you at a Service Canada location with lengthy queues, before texting or calling when they get close to the front.
One "line waiter" ad based in Vancouver reads, "$45/hr will wait in line for you at a passport office in Vancouver $750 for the day. Deposit of $200 required Either meet in the morning or the night before E-transfer as well."
Another promises to start queuing from 9 p.m. the night before Service Canada opens at 8:30 a.m.
Over in Toronto, someone is charging $25 per hour for similar services. "Will stand in line for you so that you can save time (and stress) from being stuck in one for hours yourself. Passport Centres, Drive Test, Service Ontario and others," the ad reads.
A Mississauga option reads, "I will wait in the line for you to get your passport. I Guarantee you a place in line between first to sixth in line. I will hold your place in line until you get there. 400$ flat rate."
There are also similar ads in Edmonton and Ottawa, among others.
It comes as Service Canada locations all over the country are experiencing an "unprecedented surge in demand" for passport renewals, because so many Canadians have not travelled internationally in recent years.
The feds say that the best way to avoid long in-person wait times is to choose your method of application based on your location, the date you need your passport for and your reason for renewal.
You can answer a few questions online on the government's website to help you find the best way to proceed.
Unless you have travel plans within the next two weeks, officials are asking travellers to "please visit our website instead of calling."