Proposed Changes to Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations

After numerous chaotic periods of travel in the recent past, including a summer during which passengers were given yoga mats to sleep on in airports and had better success tracking luggage with AirTags than airlines could, the Canadian government has long spoken about the need to change the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) to close loopholes and amend them to be more in favour of passengers.

Earlier this week, it was announced that changes to the APPR are slated for later on this year, after proposed amendments to the Canada Transportation Act come into effect.

Proposed Changes to the Canada Transportation Act

In a press release, the Canadian government outlined a number of proposed amendments to the Canada Transportation Act that it has submitted as part of a broader budget bill. The changes will come into effect, at the earliest, on September 30, 2023, although it could be later.

Once these changes take effect, the Canada Transportation Agency (CTA) should be able to modify the APPR in such a way that closes loopholes, increases the ceiling on fines for non-compliance, and shifts the claims resolution process, amongst others.

In the government press release, the following highlights were noted, which would require the CTA to eventually make changes to the APPR in consultation with the Minister of Transport:

• Increasing the maximum fine for non-compliance with the APPR from $25,000 to $250,000
• Requiring airlines to shoulder the cost of complaints (instead of the CTA)
• Requiring airlines to develop an internal process to deal with complaints
• Replacing the current air travel complaint resolution process altogether
• Impose a greater burden of proof on airlines (compensation is presumed to be payable upon a delay unless the airline proves otherwise)
• Making compensation mandatory for all delays that are within the carrier’s control
• Ensure standards of treatment (provision of food and water) mandatory for all flight disruptions
• Establish requirements for delayed baggage
• Prescribe parameters around refund requirements as a result of a government-issued travel advisory

It’s worth noting that this is going to take some time to come into effect, as the CTA would need to make amendments to the APPR after the changes to the Canada Transportation Act take place. 

Until then, it’s business as usual, and we’ll likely see the backlog of complaints filed by passengers swell to an…