Court decision on confidentiality of CTA air travel complaint decisions

Court decision

On July 8, 2026, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that complaints adjudicated by the Canadian Transportation Agency's (CTA) Complaint Resolution Office (CRO) are subject to the open court principle and are no longer covered by the confidentiality provision in subsection 85.09(1) of the Canada Transportation Act.
As a result, information submitted as part of an air travel complaint may become part of the public record if the complaint reaches the adjudication stage of the complaint resolution process.
Because the Attorney General of Canada did not appeal the decision, parties involved in complaints are now free to discuss the outcomes of their cases.

The CTA is committed to fully implementing the Court's decision in a fair and responsible manner.
The CTA will be responsive to public requests for information while ensuring affected parties have an opportunity to review their information and request confidentiality protections for highly sensitive information before records are made public.

Individuals whose complaints have already been decided, as well as those whose complaints are currently in the backlog, submitted information with the understanding that the process was confidential.
Complainants may have submitted highly sensitive information, including:
- Financial information, such as credit card numbers and banking information
- Passport information
- Other personal identifiers, such as date of birth and social insurance number
Personal information can be used to facilitate identity theft, fraud, financial exploitation, and other harmful activities.
The CTA is taking a cautious approach to ensure parties have the ability to seek measures to protect this information.

The Court's decision affects tens of thousands of complaint files and hundreds of thousands of related records.
Reviewing records, assessing confidentiality requests, and preparing materials for public release represents a significant undertaking that will require time to complete responsibly.

The CTA will contact affected parties before complaint records are made available to the public.
Parties will have an opportunity to request confidentiality protections for specified personal information.
Confidentiality requests will be reviewed and determined in accordance with the law before records are placed on the public record.

The CTA will contact affected parties before their complaint proceeds.
They will be required to review their complaint and supporting documents, remove or redact information they do not wish to appear on the public record, and indicate whether they wish to request confidentiality protections for remaining highly sensitive information.
A Complaint Resolution Officer will consider confidentiality requests before records are made public.

Parties will be informed at the outset of the complaint process that adjudicative records, including complaint submissions, responses, supporting documents, and decisions, will become part of the public record if the complaint is not resolved before adjudication begins.
Parties will have an opportunity to request confidentiality protections for highly sensitive information.

Starting in early 2027, the CTA will publish its decisions on its website every month. Before publishing a decision, the CTA will remove any confidential information.
The CTA's priority is to resolve air passenger complaints efficiently. As complaints are processed, the CTA will review requests to keep information confidential. As such, complaint information that is public will be clearly identified, which will facilitate the processing of access requests to those records and decisions.
The CTA has also established a process for providing access to records from complaints that have already been decided. Given the large volume of records involved, these records will become releasable progressively as the CTA reviews historical files and processes any associated confidentiality requests.
Information does not become public simply because it is submitted to the CTA. A complaint record only becomes public if and when it reaches the adjudication phase. Complaints resolved before adjudication, including through mediation, will remain confidential.