Ministerial Responsibilities and Authorizations

The Minister of Transport oversees a diverse portfolio that undertakes activities and implements programs in support of key objectives related to the transportation system:

  1. World Class Safety and Security;
  2. Enabling Economic Growth and Improving the Travel Experience for Canadians; and
  3. Environmental Sustainability.

In pursuing his/her objectives, the Minister of Transport, has extensive legal powers and responsibilities in 50 Acts and 236 sets of regulations.

More detail on the Acts under the Minister’s responsibility are included on the List of Acts page.

The Deputy Minister of Transport provides non-partisan support to the Minister of Transport in fulfilling the Minister's collective and individual responsibilities and accountability to Parliament. This support includes:

  • providing sound public service advice on policy development and implementation, both in terms of the Transport portfolio and with respect to the government’s overall policy and legislative agenda;
  • managing the day to day operations of Transport Canada, ensuring effective implementation of the Minister’s decisions;
  • providing advice and support on the overall management of the transport portfolio; and fulfilling authorities that have been assigned to the Deputy Minister directly by legislation.

Given these responsibilities, the Deputy Minister understands and welcomes the fact that the Minister may also assign him or her certain specific responsibilities from time to time.

Under the principles of accountable government, all activities carried out in the department, including the actions of all officials under the Minister’s management and direction, are done under the Minister’s authority. The Minister has responsibilities under 74 acts and more than 400 regulations which contain a vast number of powers, duties and functions to exercise.

It is not feasible or practical for the Minister to directly carry out all of the powers, duties and functions that fall under his/her authority. For that reason, a number of authorities are delegated to various officials who act on behalf of the Minister. This is particularly the case for the exercise of various front-line regulatory authorities that require expert technical knowledge. Therefore, a well-developed system of Ministerial Authorizations is in place to manage the many different authorities that need to be exercised under these Acts and regulations.

There are certain authorities that the Minister must personally approve. These include:

  • Proposals to Cabinet;
  • Proposals to the Governor in Council; and
  • Requests for resources or authorities to the Treasury Board to manage the Minister’s overall financial authorities.

There are also a few that are directly assigned to the Deputy Minister, including authorities associated with:

  • managing the department (e.g. human resources management and official languages);
  • supporting ministerial accountability in Parliament (e.g. Accounting Officer responsibilities); and
  • providing information on the administration of programs to bodies that make reports to Parliament (e.g. the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Auditor General and the Commissioner of Official Languages).

The Deputy Minister is responsible for maintaining an effective control framework for the department, including provision of mandatory training to individuals exercising delegated authorities. In order to deliver a strong and reliable organizational control framework, the Deputy Minister is supported by the Associate Deputy Minister,  Assistant Deputy Ministers, the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services, the Chief Audit Executive and the Departmental Audit Committee.

At Transport Canada, a system is in place to ensure that officials can appropriately exercise certain powers on the Minister’s behalf pursuant to express delegations of authority from the Minister or through common-law principles (i.e. the Carltona doctrine) that have been codified in legislation. The routine nature and volume of such actions make the delegation of such authorities a more practical way of operating. The act of delegation allows officials to carry out transactions such as awarding grants and contributions under established criteria; entering into certain contracts; and responding to access-to-information requests, thereby being more directly responsive to Canadians.

Strict attention is paid to ensure that authorities are calibrated at the right level and are supported by rigorous training while considering the dynamics of financial risk management, operational realities and effective safety oversight.

Currently, there are approximately 80 delegated authorizations to departmental officials in effect. These authorizations remain in effect until rescinded, replaced or amended by a Minister. In the early stages of a new mandate, it is considered good practice for a Minister to review these delegations to ensure that he/she is comfortable with the manner in which his/her authorities are exercised and confident in the management framework governing the exercise of these authorities. 

Delegation vs. designation

A number of authorities under statute or regulations are exercised by officials “designated” by the Minister, which is somewhat different than a delegation of ministerial authorities. While the Minister can delegate his/her legislated authorities to an official, he/she can still personally exercise that authority. The power to designate works differently: when the Minister has the authority to “designate” under the legislation, only those designated officials will have the authority to exercise a specific power, duty and function. While the Minister could revoke a designation, he/she will not exercise these functions personally.

The most common designations are those involving a statutory power conferred on the Minister to designate a person having certain occupational requirements and expertise, such as a transportation safety inspector. Once the Minister has designated someone as an inspector, only that person may exercise the powers granted in the statute—typically a power to enter premises and a power to inspect, ask questions, seize and detain, etc.

The following are the key areas where important delegations or designations are in effect at Transport Canada:

Regulatory powers related to transportation safety and security

Managers and inspectors are assigned significant authorities and make legally binding orders to ensure they can take necessary action to ensure safety and security.

For example:

  • Under the Railway Safety Act, the Director General of Rail Safety has the delegated authority to issue a Ministerial Order (MO) in the interests of safe railway operations. This power was recently used during the July 2021 wildfires near Lytton, British Columbia to issue MO 21-05, which ordered railway companies to stop operations in the affected area for a period of 48 hours and MO 21-06 ordering railway companies to improve their fire detection and suppression efforts and create an Extreme Weather Fire Risk Mitigation Plan.
  • Under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, marine safety inspectors have the delegated authority to issue Administrative Monetary Penalties to any individual or vessel that does not comply with mandatory measures outlined in legislation, regulations or interim orders such as the recent cases of speed limits related to measures to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale.
  • Under the Marine Transportation Security Act, marine transportation security inspectors have the delegated authority to issue an Assurance of Compliance to a person who does not comply with mandatory measures outlined in legislation.
    • Under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Minister can designate automotive defect inspectors to conduct motor vehicle compliance investigations, and senior officials may compel a company to issue a recall.
    • Under the Aeronautics Act, authorized executives (e.g. Regional Director and the Director General) have the authority to issue exemptions from the Canadian Aviation Regulations, if the exemption is in the public interest and is not likely to adversely affect aviation safety or security. Further, selected civil aviation inspectors (e.g. Civil Aviation Contingency Operations Chief and Officers, Chief of Flight Standards) and executives (e.g. Director of Standards, Regional Directors and the Director General) have the authority to issue a Notice to Airmen (commonly known as a NOTAM) to either close, restrict operations in airspace, airports and aerodromes, or stipulate requirements for operation in a particular airspace (e.g. over an accident scene, fire, damaged runway) or nationally (e.g. banning direct flights from high COVID risk countries).
    • Under the Aeronautics Act, within the Aviation Security Program, the Director General, the Executive Director of Aviation Security Operations and the Director of the International Program have the authority to issue emergency directions that compel operators to conduct certain security activities (e.g. enhanced screening by the air carrier at the boarding gate to mitigate a specific threat).

The individual Transport Canada officials exercising these regulatory authorities, under delegation or designation, do so in accordance with a multi-layered management system that ensures these authorities are exercised in a manner consistent with a world-class safety regulator.

This management system ensures that authorities are exercised objectively by delegated officials with the required expertise, consistent with safety and security legislation and regulations, on the basis of proper evidence and without undue interference. In doing so, this management system is a key element of what makes Transport Canada a world class regulator—maintaining public confidence in the transportation system and ensuring that regulatory decisions withstand public and legal scrutiny. Some key elements of this management system include:

  • A comprehensive system of required training and professional development for all delegated officials;
  • The Centre for Expertise in Enforcement (CEE), which supports front-line transportation safety inspectors across the country with a consistent and rigorous approach to enforcement of safety regulations, including formal investigations and the progressive application of all penalties available under the legislation;
  • Consistent use of legal counsel and oversight advisory boards, which convene technical experts, legal counsel and CEE officials to provide advice to officials exercising delegated authorities in order to ensure consistent and rigorous oversight actions across the country; and
  • Clear internal communication protocols where senior departmental officials and the Minister are informed on the use of the delegated authorities while maintaining the integrity of the safety oversight and enforcement decision-making process.