REGINA -- SARCAN said it has paid out an average of $1.8 million to customers per week, since reopening to the public on June 15.

“We knew it was going to be busy,” said SARCAN communications coordinator Nolan Hubbard-Richards.

“We knew that people were going to be accumulating more containers than normal. But, we were completely blown away with the reception of our reopening and how many people showed up on that opening day and continue to show up.”

Some customers have seen wait times up to two hours long at locations across Regina. Zena Bear waited outside of the Rochdale location.

“I’ve got five [bags], but I’ve got another six or seven in the car and they said, ‘just what we can carry,’ so I have another day of this.”

SARCAN continues its COVID-19 practices at all locations and customers are seeing them as a success.

“Everybody just kept their distance and did their own thing. So it was all good,” said Bear.

Hubbard-Richards says there is no way for SARCAN to be able to predict what days or times they will be busy. But, it does look like the long lines will continue to be the norm for the foreseeable future.