IMPROVING AIR PASSENGER RIGHTS
- Protecting the rights of air passengers is a priority of the Government of Canada, and the government will continue to ensure that travellers’ rights are respected by airlines when air travel does not go according to plan.
- The Government of Canada introduced proposed legislative amendments to the Canada Transportation Act which have been endorsed in the Budget Implementation Act, 2023.
- These proposed amendments would strengthen Canada’s passenger rights regime, streamline the processes for administering air travel complaints before the Canadian Transportation Agency, and increase air carriers’ accountability.
SUPPLEMENTARY MESSAGES
- The proposed measures would also impose a greater burden of proof on air carriers by requiring them to pay compensation to travellers unless they can demonstrate that a disruption was caused by a circumstance on the list of exceptions, which would be predetermined in regulations established by the Agency in consultation with the Minister of Transport.
If pressed on the private member’s Bill C-327:
- The government is confident that the proposed legislation addresses the concerns identified in Bill C-327, while also establishing a more streamlined complaint resolution process for air travel complaints at the Agency.
BACKGROUND
In December 2019, the creation of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) provided an important framework of rights for Canadians when air travel does not go as planned, clarifying minimum standards of treatment and compensation that must be provided to passengers based on the level of control an airline has over a flight disruption. The extraordinary impact of the pandemic, which began shortly after the implementation of the APPR, tested the regime beyond anything imaginable.
These events exposed a lack of clarity in the regime around eligibility for compensation, leading to a surge in air travel complaints at the Agency of over 43,000. These events have also exposed other concerns with the system, such as the costs and processes associated with administering the regime being borne by taxpayers.
While the government strengthened the regime during the pandemic to include refunds for cancellations and long delays, further enhancements have been introduced through the Budget Implementation Act, 2023, (BIA) to strengthen Canada’s passenger rights regime, streamline the processes for administering air travel complaints before the Agency, broaden the authority of the Agency to set fees and charges to recover its costs, and enhance the Agency’s enforcement powers with respect to the air transportation sector.
As part of an off-cycle budget decision in 2023, the Agency was allocated $75.9M of additional funding over three years, starting in 2023-24 to enable the Agency to increase its complaint processing capacity, increase its compliance and enforcement capacity, and develop a cost recovery regime.
Together with the additional funding for the Agency, the government recently introduced through BIA the following proposed legislative amendments:
- modify the Agency’s regulation-making powers with respect to air carriers’ obligations towards passengers, including the removal of the broad categories of disruptions (e.g., disruptions outside/within the control of airlines or required for safety);
- make compensation and standards of treatment mandatory for all disruptions, unless the disruption was caused by very limited circumstances that would be specifically defined by regulations;
- replace the current process for resolving air travel complaints with a more streamlined process to ensure travellers get timelier decisions;
- impose a greater burden of proof on air carriers where it is presumed that compensation is payable to a complainant unless the air carrier proves the contrary;
- require air carriers to establish an internal process for dealing with air travel claims;
- broaden the authority of the Agency to set fees and charges to recover its costs; and,
- enhance the Agency’s enforcement powers with respect to the air transportation sector.
Following royal assent of the BIA, the Agency would have the authority to initiate the regulatory process to amend the APPR in consultation with the Minister of Transport. As of September 30, 2023, or if it is later, as of the day on which BIA receives royal assent, the Agency would begin to resolve complaints through the new complaint resolution process.