{{Short description|Quasi-judicial tribunal of the Government of Canada}} {{distinguish|Transport Canada}} {{Infobox government agency | agency_name = Canadian Transportation Agency | type = | nativename = Office des transports du Canada | nativename_a = | nativename_r = | logo = | logo_width = | logo_caption = | seal = | seal_width = | seal_caption = | picture = Terrasses de la Chaudière.jpg | picture_width = | picture_caption = Headquarters in the Jules Léger Building in Terrasses de la Chaudière | formed = {{Start date and age|1904}}<ref name="history">{{Cite web|url=https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/publication/at-heart-transportation-a-moving-history|title=At the Heart of Transportation: A Moving History|date=12 June 2017}}</ref> | preceding1 = Canadian Transport Commission | preceding2 = | jurisdiction = Government of Canada | headquarters = Gatineau, Quebec, Canada | coordinates = | employees = | budget = | minister1_name = | minister1_pfo = | minister2_name = | minister2_pfo = <!-- (etc.) --> | deputyminister1_name = | deputyminister1_pfo = | deputyminister2_name = | deputyminister2_pfo = <!-- (etc.) --> | chief1_name = France Pégeot | chief1_position = Chair and CEO (June 1, 2021)<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.canada.ca/en/transport-canada/news/2021/05/transport-minister-alghabra-announces-appointment-of-the-canadian-transportation-agency-chairperson.html| title=Transport Minister Alghabra announces appointment of the Canadian Transportation Agency Chairperson |date= May 7, 2021}}</ref> | chief2_name = | chief2_position = | agency_type = | parent_department = | parent_agency = | child1_agency = | child2_agency = <!-- (etc.) --> | keydocument1 = <!-- (etc.) --> | website = {{URL|www.otc-cta.gc.ca}} | footnotes = | map = | map_width = | map_caption = }}
The '''Canadian Transportation Agency''' ('''CTA'''; {{langx|fr|Office des transports du Canada}}, OTC) is the independent, quasi-judicial tribunal of the Government of Canada that makes decisions relating to federally regulated modes of transportation (air, rail and marine). Its headquarters are in the Jules Léger Building (South) (''Édifice Jules Léger (Sud)'') in Terrasses de la Chaudière, Gatineau, Quebec.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/contact-us| title=Phone, email and mailing address {{!}} Canadian Transportation Agency| accessdate=May 23, 2018| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524003938/https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/contact-us| archivedate=May 24, 2018| url-status=live| website=otc-cta.gc.ca| date=3 June 2013}}</ref>
It is responsible for: *Dispute resolution: to resolve complaints about transportation services, fares, rates, and charges; * Accessibility: to ensure that the national transportation system is accessible, particularly to persons with disabilities; and * Economic regulation: to provide approvals and licences and to make decisions on matters involving federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation.
The agency is divided into five branches: Chair's Office; Corporate Management Branch; Legal and Alternative Dispute Resolution Services Branch; Dispute Resolution Branch; Industry Regulation and Determinations Branch.
The agency is headed by five full-time members, including the chairman and chief executive officer, and the vice chairman.
==History== The history of the Canadian Transportation Agency originates in February 1904 with the establishment of the Board of Railway Commissioners, an independent body with regulatory authority over railway, and later with jurisdiction over telegraphs, telephones, and express companies.<ref name="history">{{Cite web|url=https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/publication/at-heart-transportation-a-moving-history|title=At the Heart of Transportation: A Moving History|date=12 June 2017}}</ref>
The Board of Railway Commissioners was replaced by the Board of Transportation Commissioners through the ''Transport Act'' in 1938; this new agency held authority over inland waterways and airlines in addition to those jurisdictions inherited by the Board of Railway Commissioners. On 11 September 1944, amendments to the ''Transport Act'' provided for "the removal of commercial air services from the jurisdiction of the Board of Transport Commissioners." At the same time, the ''Aeronautics Act'' created a new Air Transport Board to provide licensing and regulatory functions.<ref name="history" />
In 1967, ''National Transportation Act'' became law and established the Canadian Transport Commission (CTC)—absorbing most of the members and staff from the previous Board of Transport Commissioners, the Air Transport Board, and the Canadian Maritime Commission—with Jack Pickersgill as president. The CTC was given mandate over all modes of transportation in Canada, "with the object of co-ordinating and harmonizing the operations of all carriers engaged in transport by railways, water, aircraft, extra-provincial motor vehicle transport and commodity pipelines."<ref name="history" />
In 1976, communications services (telephone, telegraph) regulation was transferred from the CTC to the CRTC, the name of which was changed from the Canadian Radio and Television Commission to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission.
In 1988, the new ''National Transportation Act'' overhauled the CTC and replaced it with the National Transportation Agency. On May 29, 1996, the ''Canada Transportation Act'',<ref name=":0">[http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-10.4/index.html ''Canada Transportation Act'']</ref> also known as Bill C-14 (formerly C-101), received royal assent and established the Canadian Transportation Agency, which began operations on July 2.<ref name="history" />
Consumer responsibilities were expanded in 2000, when the post of Air Travel Complaints Commissioner was created under its stewardship. The first Air Travel Complaints Commissioner was Bruce Hood, a former veteran National Hockey League referee.
In 2020, the agency received 8000 complaints between March and September over airline policies to issue travel vouchers rather than refunds for passengers cancelling their flight bookings during the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name="CBC Sept 2020">{{Cite news |last=Canadian Press |date=September 1, 2020 |title=Few people are flying during COVID-19 but that hasn't stopped complaints about airlines from soaring |work=CBC |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cta-airline-complaints-covid-19-1.5707829 |access-date=December 19, 2020}}</ref> The CTA posted on their website that airlines could issue travel vouchers instead of refunds, which caused Air Passenger Rights, an advocacy association, to file a lawsuit for CTA to remove this statement.<ref name="City News">{{Cite news |last1=Ghobrial |first1=Adrian |last2=Teneriello |first2=Tina |title=The fight to get refunds from Canadian airlines during the coronavirus pandemic|publisher=CityNews |url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/04/09/the-fight-to-get-refunds-from-canadian-airlines-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/ |access-date=2020-12-20}}</ref>
In September 2023, the Agency introduced a new system to handle air passenger complaints. In its first full year, the Complaint Resolution Office resolved more than 33,000 complaints in 2024–25, nearly three times as many as in 2022–23. However, the number of new complaints remained very high, with more than 40,000 received each year over the past three years and a record of over 46,000 in 2024–25. As a result, there were 84,398 unresolved complaints at the end of the fiscal year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-11-07 |title=2024–25 Departmental results report: At a glance |url=https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/publication/2024-25-departmental-results-report-at-a-glance |url-status=live |access-date=2025-12-18 |website=Official website of Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA)}}</ref>
== Legislation == {{Infobox legislation | short_title = Canada Transportation Act | legislature = Parliament of Canada | citation = [https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Acts/C-10.4/index.html S.C. 1996, c. 10] | royal_assent = May 29, 1996 | date_effective = July 1, 1996 | administered_by = Canadian Transportation Agency | bill = Bill C-14 (formerly C-101) | 3rd_reading = March 25, 1996 | status = Amended }}
The '''''Canada Transportation Act'''''<ref name=":0" /> is the Agency's enabling statute to implement the federal government's transportation policy.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Toolkit|first=Web Experience|date=2019-09-09|title=List of Acts and Regulations|url=https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/list-acts-and-regulations|access-date=2021-09-08|website=otc-cta.gc.ca}}</ref>
The Agency also shares responsibility for administering other Acts and their related regulations, including:<ref name=":1" />
* ''Accessible Canada Act, 2019'' *''Canada Marine Act'' *''Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012'' * ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act'' * ''Coasting Trade Act'' * ''Energy Supplies Emergency Act'' *''Pilotage Act'' *''Railway Relocation and Crossing Act'' *''Railway Safety Act'' * ''Shipping Conferences Exemption Act, 1987'' The CTA has sole responsibility for the following regulations:<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2019-09-09 |title=List of Acts and Regulations |url=https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/list-acts-and-regulations |url-status=live |access-date=2025-12-08 |website=Official website of The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA)}}</ref>
* Accessible Transportation Planning and Reporting Regulations (SOR-2021-243) * Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (SOR/2019-244) * Air Transportation Regulations (SOR/88-58) * Air Passenger Protection Regulations (SOR/2019-150) * Canadian Transportation Agency Designated Provisions Regulations (SOR/99-244) * Regulations on Operational Terms for Rail Level of Services Arbitration (SOR/2014-192) * Personnel Training for the Assistance of Persons with Disabilities Regulations (SOR/94-42) * Railway Costing Regulations (SOR/80-310) * Railway Interswitching Regulations (SOR/88-41) * Railway Third Party Liability Insurance Coverage Regulations (SOR/96-337) * Railway Traffic and Passenger Tariffs Regulations (SOR/96-338) * Railway Traffic Liability Regulations (SOR/91-488)
The CTA shares responsibility for the following regulations:<ref name=":2" />
* Transportation Information Regulations (SOR/96-334) * Railway Company Pay Out of Excess Revenue for the Movement of Grain Regulations (SOR/2001-207) * The Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc. Regulations (SOR/98-568) * The Seaway International Bridge Corporation, Ltd. Regulations (SOR/98-569)
==Certificate of Fitness== The CTA is responsible for the issuance of a Certificate of Fitness for each federal railway.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/rail-certificates-fitness-licences| title=Rail certificates of fitness (licences)| website=otc-cta.gc.ca| date=25 May 2017| accessdate=May 23, 2018}}</ref> A board is required to evaluate details like insurance coverage, without which the railway cannot maintain its Certificate of Fitness.
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Portal|Canada|Transportation}} * {{Official website| https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/}}
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Category:Transport in Canada Category:Federal departments and agencies of Canada Category:Canadian transport law Category:Organizations based in Gatineau Category:Transport agencies in Canada