Herman Singh had been in Canada for three days - spending two of them waiting outside the Service Canada office to get a Social Insurance Number.

The international student told CTV News Toronto: "Yesterday I came here at 11 a.m. and security told me to leave because I wouldn’t have a chance to get my turn here, so I came today at five."

He stood outside the Service Canada location in Brampton, Ontario. His story is not unique. Hundreds of people lined up hundreds of feet long as they stretched around the building, the back alley, and behind a nearby restaurant.

By midday, many were told to go back home and try again another day.

Daniel Mendy was one of the few lucky ones closer to the front of the line who were asked to return later in the afternoon.

He arrived from Gambia last Thursday to study Healthcare Management at Fanshawe College.

He says he was staying in Brampton near the Service Centre before heading to London, hoping to get a Social Insurance card to secure an apartment, a bank account, and a job.

He said, "Today I had to wake up very early, I have been here since six in the morning." "I waited for hours, and then I was told to wait until late afternoon around 4:30 p.m. before coming back again."

Delays at Service Canada for passports have been ongoing for months, which Employment and Social Development Canada - which oversees Service Canada - has called "unacceptable."

Service Canada expects the passport backlog to drop significantly by the end of summer, which was advised by Employment and Social Development Canada in an update on August 17.