Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations are federal law. They apply to every airline on every flight touching Canadian soil. Most passengers who are delayed, cancelled, or bumped walk away without the compensation they're owed.
Denied boarding means the airline refuses to let you board a flight you have a confirmed reservation for — you checked in, you have a boarding pass, and you're still turned away at the gate.
The most common cause is overbooking: airlines deliberately sell more seats than the plane has, expecting some no-shows. When too many passengers show up, someone gets bumped. Airlines must first ask for volunteers. If not enough step forward, they involuntarily bump passengers — and that triggers mandatory compensation regardless of any other reason they give.
This is not the same as a cancellation (where the flight doesn't operate). The flight leaves. You're just not on it. Being refused for safety, security, or conduct reasons is not covered.
Every delay, cancellation, and denied boarding falls into one of three categories. The category determines what you're owed. Airlines assign the category themselves. They are not always right.
Standards of treatment (food, drink, hotel) apply during any 2+ hour delay where you were notified less than 12 hours before departure, regardless of category. For Category 3, some circumstances may limit this.
| Disruption & delay at final destination | Large carrier | Small carrier |
|---|---|---|
| Delay or cancellation (Category 1 only) | ||
| 3 to under 6 hours late | $400 CAD | $125 CAD |
| 6 to under 9 hours late | $700 CAD | $250 CAD |
| 9 or more hours late | $1,000 CAD | $500 CAD |
| Denied boarding (always owed, regardless of category) | ||
| Less than 6 hours late | $900 CAD | $300 CAD |
| 6 to under 9 hours late | $1,800 CAD | $600 CAD |
| 9 or more hours late | $2,400 CAD | $800 CAD |
A tarmac delay is when your plane is sitting on the ground — before takeoff or after landing — without going anywhere. These trigger a separate set of rights based on elapsed time. There is no cash compensation for tarmac delays, but the airline has hard obligations it must meet.
Throughout the delay the airline must provide status updates every 30 minutes and keep the cabin at a safe temperature.
The process has three stages. Most claims resolve at stage one. Some don't.
The strength of your claim depends almost entirely on what you capture in real time. Memory is not documentation.
Before going to the CTA, you must submit a written complaint to the airline and wait 30 days for their response.
Use the airline's official online claim form and send a separate written email to their customer relations department. Doing both creates a paper trail. In your submission, cite the APPR by name and state the specific compensation amount you are claiming. Reference the regulation section if you can.
Even if the airline has already told you verbally that you're not eligible, still submit the formal written claim. That denial becomes evidence for your CTA complaint.
You have one year from the date of the incident to make this claim. Do not accept a travel voucher in place of cash unless you choose to. You are entitled to a refund to your original form of payment.
If the airline denies your claim, underpays, or doesn't respond within 30 days, file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency at otc-cta.gc.ca.
After submitting, you will receive an email with a link to confirm your complaint in the CTA's eServices Portal. This confirmation step is mandatory. Your complaint will not proceed without it.
The CTA can order compensation, refunds, and reimbursements. It cannot award damages for lost income or pain and suffering.
As of May 2026, the CTA has approximately 97,000 unresolved complaints. Realistic wait times are one to three years.
Air Canada launched a pilot ADR program with CADR (Canada Aviation Dispute Resolution) in April 2026. If you have an outstanding CTA claim against Air Canada, the airline may invite you to transfer it to CADR. You cannot request participation — Air Canada selects participants.
If invited: a neutral arbitrator resolves your case within 90 days, free of charge. The decision is binding on the airline but not on you. If you reject the outcome, your CTA queue position is preserved with no penalty.
The government is planning to expand this model industry-wide, but until legislation passes, access depends entirely on being selected.
You can sue the airline directly in your province's small claims court — without going through the CTA at all, or after the CTA process fails you. This route is independent of the APPR complaint system.
You can claim out-of-pocket losses, lost wages, and amounts beyond the APPR minimums. Airlines often settle before trial to avoid legal costs. Filing fees are typically $100 to $250. Some provinces allow claims up to $35,000 (BC) or more.
You prepare and argue your own case. Airlines send lawyers. For larger or more complex losses, consider legal advice before filing.
Cash compensation ($400/$700/$1,000 amounts): Airlines routinely offer travel vouchers instead of cash. You are under no obligation to accept. You can insist on a direct refund to your original form of payment. A voucher is not compensation unless you choose it.
Meal and food vouchers during a delay: This is a different obligation entirely. Meal vouchers are how airlines fulfill their standards of treatment duty — food, drink, and access to communication. Accepting a meal voucher does not affect your right to cash compensation for the delay. The two are legally separate.
The APPR does not specify a dollar amount per meal. The standard is reasonable quantities appropriate to the wait time — no figure is defined. Airlines set their own voucher amounts internally, typically $10–$20. If the voucher doesn't cover the cost of an actual meal at that airport, you can pay the difference out of pocket and claim reimbursement. The obligation is to provide adequate food, not just any voucher.
If the airline provides nothing: Pay for reasonable expenses yourself and claim reimbursement. A meal at the airport is reasonable. A $300 dinner is not. Keep every receipt.
The APPR is your floor. Several other regimes and protections can apply at the same time — or recover losses the APPR doesn't cover. Most passengers claim one or none of them.
Your Air France flight from Paris (CDG) to Montreal is delayed 3 hours 40 minutes at departure. EU261 owes you €250 per person — the flight departs an EU airport, so it applies regardless of your nationality or destination.
The same disruption also triggers APPR rights on arrival in Canada. File both claims against Air France separately. EU261 is typically easier to enforce — use the EU Small Claims procedure or a French consumer tribunal if the airline stalls.
You’re involuntarily bumped from a United Airlines flight out of Newark (EWR) to Toronto. The next available seat arrives 5 hours later. US DOT owed: up to US$2,150 per person (400% of the one-way fare, capped at $2,150, for an arrival delay of more than four hours on an international US-departing flight). APPR owed: $900 CAD (large carrier, denied boarding, delay under 6 hours at final destination).
Both claims go to United — two separate letters, two separate legal bases. The US DOT claim covers the departure leg; APPR covers your rights on the Canadian-arriving flight. Neither cancels the other out.
International treaty (1999), ratified by Canada, the US, the EU, and 130+ countries. Article 19 covers delay: the airline is liable for your actual financial losses unless it proves it took all necessary measures to avoid them.
The airline’s defence. The carrier escapes liability if it proves it “took all necessary measures.” Courts set a high bar — weather may qualify, but staffing shortages and routine maintenance issues typically do not. Airlines invoke this defence frequently. Challenge it in writing.
Example. Your WestJet flight from London to Calgary is cancelled the night before departure. You’d already paid $800 for a non-refundable hotel in Calgary. APPR gives you a fixed $1,000 cash compensation. The Montreal Convention lets you claim the $800 actual hotel loss on top — the two amounts are independent and neither offsets the other. You have two years from your scheduled arrival date to file.
How to file. Send a written demand to the airline citing “Montreal Convention, Article 19” with every receipt attached. If refused, file in small claims court or Federal Court for larger amounts. This is a civil law claim — the CTA is not involved.
Runs parallel to APPR — claim both. Most premium Canadian cards include trip delay, trip cancellation, and baggage insurance. A 6-hour delay that triggers $700 APPR compensation can also trigger your card’s trip delay benefit, typically $500–$1,000 per person. These are separate claims to separate parties and do not reduce each other.
Check your card’s certificate of insurance — not the marketing brochure. Look for: trip delay insurance (note the minimum delay threshold, usually 4–6 hours), trip cancellation and interruption, and delayed or lost baggage. The strongest coverage tends to come from premium travel cards that carry an annual fee; many no-fee cards include little or no travel insurance, so read the certificate rather than assuming you're covered.
Your compensation amount depends on which category your carrier falls into. Classification is based on total passengers carried in the two preceding calendar years.
Canada's passenger protection system is under significant pressure. The government responded in May 2026.
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon announced a plan to overhaul the APPR complaints system as part of the federal Spring Economic Update.
The four parts: independent third-party dispute resolution to clear the backlog (modelled on UK and EU systems), removal of mandatory confidentiality so passengers can discuss resolved outcomes publicly, fines up to $1 million for airlines that systematically violate the APPR (up from $250,000 per violation), and a simplified regulatory framework. Legislation to implement the changes was pending at time of writing.
The CTA issued one of its largest enforcement actions to date: a $426,000 penalty against Air Canada for 71 APPR violations during the August 2025 flight attendant labour action.
Over 55,000 passengers were affected during a five-day period while Air Canada began cancelling flights ahead of a threatened strike. The CTA found that Air Canada failed to offer passengers the required choice of a full refund for unused ticket portions or a confirmed rebooking on the next available flight on any carrier. Air Canada argued the disruption was outside its control. The CTA found that rebooking and refund rights apply regardless of the control classification.
Air Canada stated it would contest the fine. WestJet was separately fined $70,000 for failing to provide meals and accommodation during a cancelled flight.
Air Canada invited 500 randomly selected customers with outstanding CTA complaints to voluntarily transfer their cases to CADR (Canada Aviation Dispute Resolution) for resolution within 90 days. The pilot is the first industry test of the third-party model the government plans to expand nationally. Outcomes are binding on the airline but not the passenger.
Come in for a free conversation. We can help you understand what you're owed and how to make your claim.