The Government of Canada is providing an additional $75.9 million to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) to help it handle more passenger rights complaints.
Canada’s Transport Minister, Omar Alghabra, announced the additional funding today. This funding will be deployed over a three-year period, starting in 2023-2024. Minister Alghabra also announced that a major reform of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations would take place.
In a press release, Ottawa explains that the funding will be used to strengthen the operation of the national transportation network, “which will allow the Agency to fulfill its mandate effectively for all Canadians”.
The new funding will also make it possible to hire more staff to deal with complaints.
In 2019, for the first time in Canadian history, an air passenger rights regime, called the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), was implemented to clarify minimum requirements and compensation depending on whether a disruption is attributable to the airline or beyond its control.
During the pandemic, the government has strengthened these rights by including refunds for situations beyond an airline’s control, such as major weather events or a pandemic.
The funding announced today will therefore, according to the Canadian government, contribute to strengthening passenger rights by giving the Agency additional resources so that it can carry out its mandate and reduce the number of existing complaints.
The Government of Canada is also working on significant reforms to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations to further protect passenger rights.
Combined with the other measures that will be taken, these reforms will help prevent the frustrating experiences that travelers faced last summer and during the holiday season, Ottawa said.
Omar Alghabra had announced earlier this year that changes would be made to the regulations this spring, but did not give a specific date or provide more details as to the nature of these changes.
