Having trouble setting up your Amazon Echo in Canada?  You're not alone

I received an Amazon Echo from the U.S. a couple months ago and was super psyched to hear that some of the devices were coming to Canada today.  In my impatience, I tried to set mine up (first-gen Echo) a couple weeks ago.  Got a language error, so it wouldn't work.  I've tried a few more times since then to no avail.  I contacted support last week to ask about the error and the rep said I should wait until December 5. 

Well, December 5 is here, and still not Alexa in my home.  So I contacted support again and chatted over the phone with a lovely rep.  She tried to help me and had me try setting up using the web browser setup wizard instead of the Alexa app.  No dice.  She then checked on things and it turns out there's a HUGE master ticket in for Canadians who are having trouble registering their devices. 

If you're in Canada and have an American Echo or a new Canadian one that you can't set up, don't worry; Amazon is on it and working on a fix right now.  If you'd like, you can contact Amazon support and ask for an email when this is resolved.  In the meantime, you'll just have to sit tight.  Remember when Pokémon Go was released and its servers couldn't handle everything?  Think of this scenario kind of like that.  It's just gonna take a little time.