Ottawa to raise maximum penalty for airlines that violate air passenger rights to $1M

Ottawa has announced plans to raise the maximum fine imposed on airlines for repeated violations of the air passenger bill of rights to $1 million.

Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon shared the news at a press conference on Friday (May 1).

"Financial penalties are a last resort. They're meant to be there for clear breaches. When there is a clear breach, there should be a stiff penalty and one that dissuades these events from happening again," MacKinnon said, as reported by CBC News.

The rules, officially called the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), took effect in 2019 and obligate airlines to compensate travellers for delays or cancellations that are within the airline’s control.

Carriers that repeatedly break these rules can currently face fines of up to $25,000.

The government suggested increasing that maximum to $250,000 as part of a broader set of reforms outlined in the 2023 budget, though those changes have not yet been implemented.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) — a quasi-judicial body and regulator responsible for resolving disputes between airlines and passengers — has been grappling with a backlog of complaints ever since the air passenger bill of rights came into effect in 2019.

The backlog has reportedly reached the 95,000 mark.

As previously reported, the Liberal government intends to shift the handling of air passenger complaints to a third-party dispute resolution organization.

Officials have not yet specified which external body would take over to help reduce the backlog, but they pointed to systems used in the U.K. and the EU as examples to potentially emulate.

Additionally, Air Canada, earlier this month, said it would test a pilot program that hands over air passenger complaints to an outside third party.

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