Profile:
President and Chief Executive Officer: Nada Semaan
Chairperson of the Board of Directors: Thao Pham
Board of Directors: 11 directors
Size: CATSA staff: 507 employees
Screening officers: The Authority employs screening contractors to carry out its activities at airports, with a screening officer workforce of approximately 7,600 individuals.
Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA): $1,201.9 million in 2025-2026
- $7.6 million increase in funding compared to last year is mostly due to a realignment of funding from previous years to support CATSA’s operations including Explosives Detection Systems (EDS).
Main Estimates 2025-26:
Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA)
SUBJECT CATSA Main Estimates
LOCATION: Ontario and Quebec, National
Issue/Source: Minister’s Committee of the Whole Appearance
Date: June 3, 2025
Suggested Responses
- CATSA, in collaboration with Transport Canada, is committed to protecting the public by ensuring the effective and efficient screening of air travellers and their baggage.
- CATSA is seeking access to $1.2B in 2025-2026, comprised of $1.1B in operating costs and $100M in capital costs.
- The funds will enable CATSA to continue delivering its core mandated activities: Pre-Board Screening of air passengers, Hold Baggage Screening, Non-Passenger Screening, and the Restricted Access Identity Card program (RAIC), which manages access to restricted areas of airports.
IF PRESSED
- CATSA is fully funded by parliamentary appropriations and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Transport.
- CATSA’s annual appropriation is insufficient to fund its operations. As such, they have sought access to top-up funding annually since 2015.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
- CATSA is an agent Crown corporation established on April 1, 2002, as the centerpiece of the Government’s response to the events of September 11, 2001. Its mandate is to provide effective and efficient screening of persons who access aircraft or restricted areas through screening points, the property in their possession or control, and the belongings or baggage that they give to an air carrier. The corporation’s priority is to maintain stable screening operations.
- CATSA is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Transport. CATSA delivers the mandate of security screening at 89 designated airports across the country through a third-party screening contractor model.
- In 2024-2025, the corporation screened approximately 70.5 million passengers. Passenger traffic is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. As a result, the next five years are a critical period in the corporation’s operations, with several ongoing lifecycle management initiatives planned and associated increases in security effectiveness.
- The corporation’s annual base reference level is insufficient to fund a full years’ operations. As such, Budget 2023 provided CATSA with $1.8B in top-up funding over 2023-24 to 2025-26 to support Wait Time Service Level improvements and enhanced Non-Passenger Screening.