Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, today, announced $75.9 million in additional funding over three years, starting in 2023-24, to ensure the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) has the resources to address passenger rights complaints.
“Travellers have rights, and these rights must be respected by airlines," Alghabra said in a statement. "When airlines do not provide the reimbursement or compensation to which travellers are entitled, the Canadian Transportation Agency is there to ensure passenger rights are respected.
Alghabra says the announcement helps give the Agency more resources to deal with the backlog of complaints, like hiring more employees, and ensure the rules are respected.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator with the mandate to help ensure that the national transportation system runs efficiently. It is responsible for enforcing Canada's first Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), which came fully into force in 2019.
The APPR was implemented to clarify minimum requirements and compensation based on whether an airline has control over the disruption or not. Then in 2022, new regulations on refund requirements for flight cancellations or lengthy delays outside of an air carrier’s control came into force.
Ottawa says it is also working on significant reforms to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations to ensure passenger rights are even more protected to help prevent the frustrating experiences of last summer and over the holiday season.
