To get a passport, you have to go to the post office, get the paper forms (and a spare or two in case you mess up), and fill them out. They need info about where you were born, the doctor who delivered you, your current address and previous addresses, your employer, and your family.
Then, you need to go get your photo taken. With a (provincial) drivers license, you just go to the license office and they take your picture. For (federal) passports, you're kind of on your own. You have to go to _a guy_ and get the photo taken that conforms to their specs. If it's not correct, they make you do the whole process again. Most pharmacies and photo stores have gear on hand to make these, but not all do it correctly.
Finally, you need a public servant of some sort who has known you for at least two years to sign the back of one of the photos and fill out the back page of the application. They also need to be available to be interviewed about you to verify your identity during the approval process.
All in all, it took us about two weeks to get the details together, than another six weeks to get the paperwork processed. It's not a very easy process, and it's a huge bar against people who have never applied before. Having the system more user-friendly would be a massive help to the under-serviced in our country, so something like this is greatly needed. Of course, this solution is awful, but it's certainly worth the effort in my opinion.