I went down to the passport office yesterday (in Edmonton) to apply for a passport, and the process was a lot more quick and painless than I expected. As long as you’ve read the directions, filled out the form properly and brought proper credentials, it shouldn’t take long. I was only in there for about half an hour, and this was at lunchtime, when there would probably be more people than normal. I was initially worried because my former housemate had applied for a passport through the mail, and it took close to four months for his to arrive. They said mine should arrive within a month or so, so let’s hope for the best – it looks like the big “rush” to get passports is mostly over.

If you can, definitely go to the local passport office to apply. It will be much faster and you don’t have to send sensitive stuff like your birth certificate in the mail.