If you're planning on travelling to the United States by air in the next two months and don't yet have a passport, you may have to consider putting your trip on hold.

As of Tuesday of next week, American legislation will require Canadians entering the United States by air to have a valid passport.

'Some people have been caught unawares,' Yukon MP Larry Bagnell said in a recent interview. 'It will be unfortunate if Yukoners get caught up with an expensive ticket they can't use.'

Yukoners should know that if applying for their passport at the Service Canada counter in the Elijah Smith Building, they can expect to wait about two months to get their documentation, said Bagnell.

'You cannot get a passport now before March,' said Bagnell. 'There's no way to get it done in the Yukon right now.'

With the usual winter-spring rush for passports, he added, the new requirements and the fact all the documents issued after the 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York City are now expiring, the backlog and lines at passport offices aren't likely to clear anytime soon.

The best option for Yukoners who must travel in the near future and don't have their document is to apply for it in person and pay a rushed service fee, said Francine Charbonneau, a spokesperson with Passport Canada.

However, to do that, individuals will need to travel to a major centre such as Calgary, Edmonton or Vancouver and even then, it can't be guaranteed their document will be ready in a matter of days, said Bagnell.

It's a huge expense and a major inconvenience, the MP added.

'We're definitely at capacity right now,' said Charbonneau. 'In-person would be better, but it would be tight.'

The Ottawa office, which is where passports applied for in the territory are sent, is up 33 per cent in the number of applications it received in November.

'They haven't done enough and they are way behind,' said Bagnell.

There was a lot of confusion at first about when exactly the new passport requirements would be coming online, said Charbonneau.

'People aren't as well informed as we'd like,' she said.

The Americans had initially wavered on exactly when the new border-crossing requirements would become mandatory. That caused some Canadians to delay getting their documentation, said Charbonneau.

The requirement is an American law that comes as part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative developed in the wake of Sept. 11.

The initiative indicates all travellers to and from the Americas, which include the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central America and South America, will be required to carry a passport if they are on a plane touching down in the States.

It doesn't matter what size the plane is or if it's just crossing the Alaska-Yukon border for a day, said Kelly Klundt, a spokesperson with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

'It applies to all air travel period; bottom line,' said Klundt.

It's a message that both the Canadian and American border services want Canadians who may be crossing the border in a bush plane or small charter plane are clear on.

Klundt said American officials have heard there has been some confusion about the new regulations among private pilots who may be flying across the border.

Canadian Border Services has been working with tourist and airline associations across the country to make sure citizens are getting the information they need on the new regulations, said spokesperson Derek Mellon.

'Our strategy is to ensure associations are aware of it,' said Mellon.

Canadian officials have been in communication with more than 400 stakeholders at provincial and territorial levels in addition to tourism and business groups, said Mellon.

Passport Canada is estimating the country's communication campaign has reached approximately six million people.

The territory has received bulletins and information posters from the American authorities, said Tourism Minister Elaine Taylor, and they have been posted in the Whitehorse and all community airports.

The territorial government has also been working with its tourism partners to ensure both Canadians and international visitors are aware of the U.S.'s new rules, said Taylor.

Information on the passport regulations have been put in the Yukon's vacation planners and on the territory's travel website. Bulletins have also been posted at the Canada-U.S. border.

It's no small task to ensure all North American travellers be it for a vacation, business, a day trip or hunting are aware of the requirements, said Klundt.

The message is getting out, said Mellon, but border services is still anticipating there will be confusion and questions from Canadians over the next several months.

Taylor agreed the territory is also expecting some confusion among Yukoners.

'There probably will be some difficult encounters,' she conceded, adding she doesn't expect every Canadian reaching border crossings will have obtained their proper documentation ahead of time.

Klundt said mechanisms are already in place to deal with any passengers or pilots who touch down in the U.S. without their passports.

Each situation will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, she said.

Canadians, however, tend to be very compliant with passport requirements, Klundt added.

Research by American customs shows about 96 per cent of Canadians arriving in the United States by air already present a passport as identification.

'At the end of the day, we're doing everything we can,' said Mellon. 'If Canadians are travelling across the border, they need to inform themselves and make sure they have the proper documentation.'

For now, the American passport requirements only apply to air travel. Canadians will be able to continue to cross the border by land and sea by showing documents such as birth certificates and driver's licences, which prove citizenship and identity.

Passport requirements for land and sea, however, are expected to be in place some time between January 2008 and June 2009.