I saw this thread before we left for our trip. We just got back Saturday night. I applied for the Red credit card and had to give them my SIN number. I did not need to show them the card though. They instantly approved me for an initial limit of $200. I am still waiting to receive the official card in the mail, but they gave me a temp card that was good for two weeks.
you only get the 5% discount on the amount you put on the card. So in our case our first purchase was almost $300. I put $200 on the card and got 5% off on that amount, but the amount that was leftover did not get the discount. I then went immediately to customer service and paid the balance off. It takes at least 24 hours from when you make a payment (assuming it is cash) before it becomes available again on your account.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have other questions.