47. CANADIAN TRANSPORTATION AGENCY (CTA)

The CTA is seeking access to $40,392,517 in planned spending authorities.

Key Messages:

• The funding provided in the Main Estimates gives the CTA the authority to enter into commitments of $40,392,517 in the coming fiscal year.

• The CTA is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator that oversees the very large and complex Canadian transportation system, which is essential to the economic and social well-being of Canadians.

• With its annual funding reflected in the Main Estimates, the CTA will continue to help keep the national transportation system running efficiently and smoothly, protect the fundamental right of persons with disabilities to accessible transportation services, and provide consumer protection for air passengers.

• The Economic and Fiscal Snapshot of 2020 announced temporary funding of $7.5M per year over two years to the CTA. This will enable the CTA to accelerate the provision of dispute resolution services to Canadians when they are unable to resolve issues directly with service providers.

• These funds were obtained through Supplementary Estimates B (December 2020), and are reflected in the 2020-21 Estimates to Date ($43,280,050).

• This year's Main Estimates 2021-22 include the additional temporary funding received through the Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020. However, they exclude the re-profiling of $3.5M from 2019-2020 linked to the CTA's move to a new location at 60 Laval in Gatineau.

• Between the time the Air Passenger Protection Regulations fully came into force on December 15, 2019, and the start of the pandemic three months later, the CTA received an unprecedented number of complaints: over 11,200 in those three months alone. By comparison, 826 complaints were filed in 2015, 3,367 in 2016, 5,565 in 2017, 7,650 in 2018 and 19,392 in 2019.

• This is a 23-fold growth in volumes over 5 years and would be challenging for any organization.

• CTA staff have invested long hours to manage this surge in complaints – and continue to process them diligently.

• Since the onset of the pandemic, the CTA has been able to maintain a productivity comparable to that of last year in processing air travel complaints. The CTA has processed over 10,200 complaints since the beginning of the pandemic.

• More than 14,600 complaints have been submitted since the mass disruption of air travel beginning in mid-March, 2020. Of these, over 8,400 concern refunds.

• In the interests of fairness, the CTA is processing most complaints on a first-in, first-out basis.

• It is anticipated that some portion of these complaints may be resolved by the ongoing financial aid negotiations between the Government of Canada and the air sector.