The feedback you submit will help the department identify service issues and trends, which will help us ensure professional, consistent and standardized service delivery to all of our clients. Service feedbacks are related to how the service was delivered by the department. This could include, but is not limited to, the following:
- timeliness of service provided
- accuracy of service or authorization received
- accessibility of information
- the process to obtain a service or authorization (i.e: complexity of a process or efficiency of process)
- staff behaviour
To submit service feedback or for other contact information at Transport Canada, please refer to our Contact Transport Canada webpage.
Safety and Security programs at Transport Canada have their own process for dealing with public inquiries, questions or complaints. Below is a description of how each safety and security program handles these situations:
Aviation Security
In Aviation Security, there are various ways for the public to submit comments, complaints and questions/inquires to our branch. Below are the types and the way we handle these:
Public inquiries received via the web feedback form on the Transport Canada website
Aviation Security has an arrangement with Civil Aviation whereby they respond to aviation security-related inquiries received via the Transport Canada website. If no previously-approved response is available for a particular question, Civil Aviation sends the questions to Aviation Security’s Director General’s Office for response. Aviation Security Secretariat Director General’s Office then tasks the branch point of contact with preparing a response, which comes back approved by the Director and is sent to Civil Aviation so they may respond to the member of the public.
Public inquiries received via the Aviation Security Inbox
The appropriate Aviation Security branch personnel is tasked with preparing a response, and upon Director General approval, a response is provided to the member of the public.
Client Feedback Service Form
There is a separate section in correspondence tracking system for these forms, which are sent to us from the Assistant Deputy Minister’s Office. The appropriate branch point of contact is tasked with preparing a response, which is sent from the Director General to the member of the public and attached to the correspondence tracking system for record-keeping purposes.
Organizational Contact Information
Aviation Security welcomes your comments on this information. Please send your feedback to:
Email: aviationsecurity-sureteaerienne@tc.gc.ca
Civil Aviation
Within Transport Canada Civil Aviation, the Director Generals Office (DGO) is responsible for handling issues that are raised by the aviation community and the public. Previously managed through the Civil Aviation Issues Reporting System (CAIRS; decommissioned in 2016), issues are currently managed through the Civil Aviation Communication Centre, which provides a central point of contact for email (via the Communication Centre inbox) and phone requests about the Civil Aviation Program. The Centre handles approximately 1,000 enquiries/month. It is unclear how many are complaints.
All general enquiries from external stakeholders received by the Communication Centre are tracked through the CCM Activity Tracking System (ATS) database. CCM ATS provides administrative advantages and also keeps the responsibility for managing inquiries within the DGO. The ability to maintain confidentiality is maintained by establishing processes in CCM ATS and the Record Document and Information Management System. Stakeholders are not currently offered the option to submit anonymously. It is recognized that this could discourage individuals who want to report safety concerns but fear repercussions, which could in turn be a barrier in ensuring safety. To alleviate this, Communication Centre agents coordinate responses, withholding the client’s contact information from the request. Workflow routings in CCM ATS allow for the contact to be identified as “anonymous” to preserve confidentiality.
Generally, the current process provides an efficient method of responding, however response times largely vary and depend on the priorities of the subject matter experts or the channels through which the enquiry is received. For example, a complaint or enquiry received through ministerial correspondence gets actioned as priority even though the same request could have been received in the Communication Centre inbox and was lower in the list.
There has been an effort to develop standard lines to assist the administrators in responding to complaints and enquiries at source rather than redirecting them to the subject matter experts within Civil Aviation. This helps reducing the response times for certain complaints and enquiries. Monthly reports are submitted to senior management for statistical reporting purposes.
Organizational Contact Information
Civil Aviation welcomes your comments on this information. Please send your feedback to:
Civil Aviation Communications Centre contact form
Marine Safety and Security
Marine Safety and Security (MSS) has a process for responding to messages from the public, whether received directly or through the department's correspondence unit. The process is the same whether a message includes a complaint, a question or information request. There isn’t a set process or central intake point for feedback, including complaints (service complaints about official languages, etc.), compliments and questions from the public or industry.
A team at Headquarters receives and manages most of MSS’ messages. Typically the messages arrive through Marine Safety and Security’s inbox or toll-free phone line (1-855-859-3123). We also receive messages from the general Transport Canada mailbox, other branches or programs, and the Director General of Marine Safety and Security’s Office. The Program’s contact information is also posted on the Transport Canada website.
Every message is logged in an internal document management system and then sent to the relevant office of primary interest (OPI) for answering. We have a service standard for managing messages: they must be answered within 10 business days once they are logged.
Most messages are related to marine operations. These are sent to the regions since that’s where the operations happen. Regional offices are well-positioned to handle region-specific questions or complaints. Some regions have a set process for handling messages, for example, questions and complaints are usually answered by regional managers. Those responses are then approved by the Regional Director or the Associate Regional Director.
The regions also receive questions and complaints directly from the public or via Members of Parliament or selected provincial representatives. Some divisions, like the Vessel Registry and regional Offices of Boating Safety, have their own toll-free phone lines or inboxes. This contact information can be found on our contact Marine Safety webpage.
Organizational Contact Information
Marine Safety and Security welcomes your comments on this information. Please send your feedback to:
Email: marinesafety-securitemaritime@tc.gc.ca
Motor Vehicle Safety
Motor Vehicle Safety has a process in place to respond to all public complaints, whether received directly or through the department's correspondence unit.
Complaints are those expressing dissatisfaction about:
- Companies, vehicles or equipment not meeting regulated safety requirements; or
- Transport Canada’s motor vehicle oversight program, services, or staff.
Complaints are addressed by:
- Reviewing it to determine if it falls under our mandate, and re-directing those outside our mandate to the appropriate authority;
- Prioritizing and preparing a response, as soon as practicable, in consultation with others, as necessary;
- Contacting the complainant for additional information, if necessary;
- Where the complaint relates to a branch employee, the response is handled by someone other than, but in consultation with the employee; and
- Documenting the incoming and return communications for future reference.
To report a potential safety defect of vehicles, tires or child car seats, you can contact our Defect Investigation and Recalls Division. We will document and analyze your compliant, and investigate if needed.
Organizational Contact Information
Motor Vehicle Safety welcomes your comments on this information. Please send your feedback to:
Email: mvs-sa@tc.gc.ca
Rail Safety
The Rail Safety Branch has a set process for responding to public complaints. The following explains those methods and includes examples.
Triaging messages
For emails and phone messages, we check to see whether the message is a question, complaint or general statement.
If the question doesn’t relate to rail safety, we would forward it to right division within Transport Canada and copy the client. This helps make sure that the client understands that their request has been sent to another team that may be able to help them.
We forward questions and complaints about regional issues to our regional offices so that they can respond to the client.
Organizational Contact Information
Rail Safety welcomes your comments on this information. Please send your feedback to:
Email: railsafety@tc.gc.ca
Phone: 613-998-2985
To reach one of our regional offices:
- Pacific: 604-666-0011
- Prairie and Northern: 1-888-463-0521
- Ontario: 416-973-9820
- Quebec: 514-633-3400
- Atlantic: 506-851-7040
Transportation of Dangerous Goods
Public complaints can come in a number of ways and are dealt in the same fashion as public enquiries.
TDG receives questions or complaints from the public (mostly industry) on all sorts of topics related to dangerous goods. These are answered by Regional inspectors. Regional contact information is posted on the Transport Canada Website. See attached link: Transportation of Dangerous Goods Program
Questions or complaints may also go directly to the Director General or the Director General’s Office (DGO) via the Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Stakeholder Information inbox. See attached link: TDG Stakeholder Information. This inbox is used by TDG to send out information to our stakeholders.
Organizational Contact Information
Transportation of Dangerous Goods welcomes your comments on this information. Please send your feedback to the TDG regional office in your region:
Atlantic
1-866-814-1477
TDG-TMDAtlantic@tc.gc.ca
Prairie & Northern
1-888-463-0521
TDG-TMDPNR@tc.gc.ca
Quebec
1-514-633-3400
TMD-TDG.Quebec@tc.gc.ca
Pacific
1-604-666-2955
TDGPacific-TMDPacifique@tc.gc.ca
Ontario
1-416-973-1868
TDG-TMDOntario@tc.gc.ca
National Capital Region
tdg-tmd@tc.gc.ca