Canadian Transportation Agency's 2023-24 Departmental results report
Table of contents
Copyright information
© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Transport, 2024.
Catalogue No. TT2-9E-PDF
ISSN 2561-2816
From the Chair and Chief Executive Officer
The last fiscal year (2023-2024) was a period of transformation and renewal at the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency).
Over the past several years the Agency has had to adapt to important changes to the environment within which it operates and more specifically changes to each of its three key areas of responsibility, namely: the efficiency of the national transportation system; consumer protection for air passengers; and the human right of persons with disabilities to an accessible transportation network. This is highlighted by a significant increase in the number of requests being submitted to the Agency. From requests for level of service dispute resolutions and applications for construction in rail, to complaints related to air passenger protections and accessibility, the Agency has seen meaningful increases in the level of demand for many of its core functions.
In response to the changing demands, at the beginning of 2023 the Agency was provided $75.9 million over three years primarily to support the processing of air passenger complaints, but also to better enable the Agency to efficiently deliver on its core mandate for Canadians. Then on June 22, 2023, Parliament passed the Budget Implementation Act (BIA) which provided the Agency the ability to streamline its air complaints process, develop new stronger regulations for passenger protections, begin implementing a pilot to temporarily extend interswitching distance and begin the process to cost recover.
As a result of the changing environment, the increase in demand for Agency services, and the tools provided by parliament over the past year, the Agency has made significant investments in its processes, its systems and data, and how it delivers on its mandate for Canadians.
This is highlighted by the successful launch of the Complaints Resolution Office (CRO) for air travel complaints. In response to the BIA and in only 3 months the Agency completely redesigned and implemented a new streamlined complaints process which launched officially on September 30, 2023. It was designed to be more straightforward, rapid, and cost-effective, with clearly established timelines and a greater ability to benefit from automation. By the end of the fiscal year, the new CRO was staffed with 112 resolution officers, who were hired and trained in waves, and processed roughly 11,000 complaints over the 6 month period. To put this in perspective, 11,158 cases were processed for the entire 2022-2023 fiscal year.
These preliminary results are promising and it is anticipated that this process will become increasingly performant with the adoption of new technology, tools and with experience, but it is also important to recognize that the backlog of complaints continued to grow in 2023-2024 reaching 71,109 by the end of the period. Unfortunately there continues to be an unpredictably high volume of received complaints and the Agency received a record 43,549 complaints over the fiscal year, a second straight year over 40,000 and roughly double the number we received in 2021-2022. The Agency remains committed to continuously improve its processes and close as many cases as possible with the resources it has been provided.
At the same time, the recent legislative amendments were also made to strengthen the air passenger protections regime by requiring compensation for all flight disruptions except in the case of exceptional circumstances, which will be established in regulations by the Agency, and to put the burden of proof on airlines. To that end, a first phase of consultations on proposed modifications to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) was conducted in the summer of 2023, and in the year ahead, the regulatory process will continue.
The legislative amendments also provide for cost recovery from airlines for the processing of eligible passenger complaints, for which the Agency will initiate the process, starting with public consultations in the coming year.
Finally, the Agency remains committed to improving the accessibility of the transportation system using all the tools it has to achieve results for persons with disabilities including specifically issues concerning the safe transportation of mobility aids and the training of employees in the transportation industry. These are issues that have gained important attention over the past year and there is an important opportunity for the Agency and for Canada to meaningfully advance the rights of persons with disabilities in these areas and in particular internationally. The ATPDR are world leading and providing greater consistency for persons with disabilities traveling internationally would represent a significant step forward.
As the Agency navigates these transformative times, I am grateful to be able to count on a highly professional staff of public servants and appointed Members, without whom this period of change and renewal would not have been possible.
In 2024, the Agency was named as one of the Top Employers in the National Capital Region. We were recognized for our commitment to creating a positive and inclusive work environment and our dedication to offering competitive benefits, professional development opportunities, and a supportive workplace culture.
I am confident that Canadians will continue to be well served by the professionalism, integrity and dedication of the team at the Canadian Transportation Agency.
France Pégeot
Results – what we achieved
Core responsibilities and internal services
- Core responsibility 1: Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
- Internal services
Core responsibility 1: Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
Description
Set and enforce economic, accessibility, and air passenger protection rules for the national transportation system; resolve disputes between transportation service providers and users through facilitation, mediation, arbitration, and adjudication; and provide information to stakeholders and Canadians in general on the transportation system and their transportation-related rights and responsibilities.
Progress on results
This section presents details on how the department performed to achieve results and meet targets for Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users. Details are presented by departmental result.
Table 1: Targets and results for independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
Table 1 provides a summary of the target and actual results for each indicator associated with the results under independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users.
Departmental Result Indicators
|
Target
|
Date to achieve target
|
Actual results
|
---|---|---|---|
Transportation Fluidity Index
|
TBD
|
September 2025
|
|
Percentage of regulatory authorities issued,
and determination cases resolved within service standards |
85%
|
March 2024
|
|
Percentage of disputes resolved within service standards
|
80%
|
March 2025
|
|
Departmental Result Indicators
|
Target
|
Date to achieve target
|
Actual results
|
---|---|---|---|
Percentage of accessibility disputes resolved within service standards
|
80%
|
March 2024
|
|
Number of air travel accessibility complaints per 100 flights
|
TBD
|
March 2025
|
|
Departmental Result Indicators
|
Target
|
Date to achieve target
|
Actual results
|
---|---|---|---|
Number of air travel consumer complaints per 100 flights
|
TBD
|
March 2025
|
|
Percentage of air consumer protection disputes resolved
within service standards |
85%
|
March 2024
|
|
* During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, and as a result of the Budget Implementation Act (BIA), the Agency implemented a new streamlined complaints process which launched officially on September 30, 2023. The Agency will amend its departmental results framework over the coming year to reflect the changes. The enabling legislation requires that complaints processed under the new Complaints Resolution Office be processed within a maximum of 90 days of their start. Currently, 99% of complaints are meeting this timeline.
Additional information on the detailed results and performance information for the Canadian Transportation Agency’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Details on results
The following section describes the results for Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users in 2023–24 compared with the planned results set out in Canadian Transportation Agency’s departmental plan for the year.
An efficient, competitive national transportation system
One of the core responsibilities of the Agency is to help ensure an efficient transportation system for Canada. The Agency is guided by the Canada Transportation Act, which includes the National Transportation Policy, which recognizes that competition and market forces are the primary drivers in providing viable and effective transportation services. It also says that regulation may be necessary to achieve public policy objectives that competition and market forces alone cannot fulfill.
Results achieved:
- Determined the 2023 rates for the new interswitching zone in support of the 160-km extended interswitching pilotNote 1 (R-2023-178) and the 2024 rates for all interswitching zones (R-2023-237);
- Resolved 39 rail disputes (12 through facilitation, 12 through mediation, and 15 through adjudication);
- Addressed 152 enquiries via the Agency's Rail Helpline;
- Changed processes to provide more straightforward information to Certificates of Fitness (CoF) holders, including the consequences of non-compliance, and to require them to ensure their operations descriptions are accurately reflected in the CoF;
- Determined the Maximum Revenue Entitlement (MRE) for Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway Company (CPKC).
- This year's determination (R-2023-254) found that CN and CPKC revenues exceeded their respective maximum grain revenue entitlements for the crop year 2022–2023.
- Regulations require revenue above their entitlements, plus a 5% penalty, to be paid to the Western Grains Research Foundation. CN and CPKC were required to pay penalties of $3,630,836 and $3,537,877, respectively;
- Approved CN's application to build a railway for its Jansen Spur project in Saskatchewan (R-2023-156);
- Set the Volume-Related Composite Price Indices (VRCPIs) for the 2023–2024 crop year.
- In 2023, the VRCPI determination (R-2023-91) showed an increase over the previous crop year of 12.11% for CN and 5.43% for CP, primarily due to increased fuel prices and material costs;
- Processed 45 coasting trade applications;
- Approved 107 air licence applications, including 61 foreign carrier licence applications; and
- Issued 998 permits for passenger resaleable, passenger non-resaleable, and cargo non-resaleable charters.
Persons with disabilities have access to justice and accessible transportation services
One of the Agency's core responsibilities is to protect the fundamental right of persons with disabilities to accessible transportation services. As a regulator and a tribunal, the Agency plays an essential role in establishing and implementing accessible transportation in Canada and in rendering decisions that shape accessible transportation services for Canadians.
The Agency has developed guidance and best practices material to ensure that the ATPDR requirements are as clear as possible for persons with disabilities and the industry.
Results achieved:
- Implemented a collaborative compliance pilot project to shadow persons with disabilities during their travel to better understand their lived experience, the services available to them, and their unique needs and challenges;
- Processed 233 accessibility complaints, a significant increase over the 138 processed the year prior;
- Issued a significant decision on travelling with Emotional Support Animals (105-AT-C-A-2023), which brings greater clarity to industry and to travellers who seek to travel with an animal that is or could be an Emotional Support Animal (ESA);
- Developed a consultation plan for expanding the ATPDR to small service providers with a small advisory group representing persons with disabilities and industry, and began implementation; and
- Engaged with Accessible Standards Canada to develop a project to create practical guidelines for the safely storing mobility aids on aircraft;
- Following the tabling of the first accessibility plans by federally regulated agencies and industry, reviewed and verified compliance of all plans, progress reports, and feedback processes for all regulated publicly owned transportation service providers and all accessibility plans and feedback processes for the majority of large private sector transportation service providers.
Consumers have access to justice and protection for air travel
Over the last year, the Agency resolved a record 16,759 air travel cases, marking a 50% increase from the previous fiscal year. However, it also received a record 43,549 complaints from passengers about their rights under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), marking the second consecutive year the count exceeded 40,000. This surge resulted in a backlog of air travel complaints before the Agency of 71,109 by the end of 2023-24. For context, until 2016, the Agency received approximately 850 complaints per year. This figure began to rise over the next three years, escalating notably after the implementation of the APPR in 2019-2020, when the number of received cases approached almost 20,000.
The high volume of air travel complaints may reflect ongoing performance and service issues within the air travel sector, particularly evident during major flight disruptions in the summer of 2022 and the winter season of 2022-23. In response to these challenges and the rising number of complaints, Parliament enacted changes to the Act through Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1. The Agency is addressing these issues through a three-pronged approach:
- Establishing a new Complaints Resolution Office (CRO);
- Amending the Air Passenger Protection Regulations; and
- Implementing cost recovery from airlines for eligible air travel complaints.
Results achieved
Complaints Resolution Office:
In only three months the Agency completely redesigned and implemented a new streamlined complaints process which launched officially on September 30, 2023. The new CRO was designed to be more straightforward, rapid, and cost-effective, with clearly established timelines and a greater ability to benefit from automation. This work included:
- Designing a new complaints resolution process, including a new digitalized complaint management system;
- Staffing and training 112 Complaints Resolution Officers, a completely new role in the organization;
- Creating online materials to assist passengers with the new process; and
- Launching a new online portal for industry and passengers to more easily and efficiently manage their complaints and onboarding 87 airlines into that portal.
Since its launch in September, the CRO has been leveraging automation and new digital solutions. This included a new online form, the online portal for passengers and industry, and material that better guides passengers by explaining how to submit a complete complaint.
Clear eligibility rules allow the Agency to automate the first steps of the process. Applicants receive information about the eligibility of their complaint quickly without extensive staff intervention, ensuring resources are allocated to cases that need further consideration.
Of the 16,759 complaints processed during the past year, 10,829 were processed in a six-month period under the CRO. This is equal to 95% of the productivity for the previous fiscal year and was possible even as the Agency underwent a profound operational transformation. Increased experience with the new system, additional efficiencies and increased automation will continue to be incorporated into the CRO process, and the Agency expects to see additional increases in productivity.
Air Passenger Protection Regulations:
Following the passage of the legislative amendments, the Agency undertook pre-consultations in July 2023, with the publication of a consultation paper on the proposed regulatory changes. The Agency received over 290 submissions from airlines, consumer organizations, passenger advocates, academics, and the general public. The results of these consultations are published in What We Heard: Proposed Changes to Strengthen the Air Passenger Protection Regulations.
Cost Recovery:
As a first step, the Agency is developing a proposal for cost recovery for eligible air travel complaints, which will be the subject of public consultations before implementation. In the future, the Agency will review its costs annually and publish an annual fees report that includes the amounts collected in that fiscal year. As a second step, the legislation also provides the tools necessary to allow the Agency to pursue cost recovery related to all the programs it is responsible for administering.
Key risks
Unpredictability of air travel complaint volumes: In recent years, the Agency has experienced a significant and continuous increase in air travel complaints. Although the Agency has been provided with additional temporary funding to deal with more air travel complaints, the volume of incoming complaints is difficult to predict and makes planning for case processing wait times and then providing accurate information to the public a challenge. To mitigate this risk, the Agency continues to review and streamline business processes and procedures and to deploy new technologies and tools. The Agency will also move forward with changes to the APPR and implement cost recovery for eligible air passenger complaints.
Implementation of legislative and regulatory changes: The updates to the Act require the Agency to revise significant aspects of its activities, implement new measures, modify services, regulations, and its internal systems, all in a short period of time. The new Complaints Resolution Office (CRO) for air travel complaints was established just three months after the legislative amendments were enacted. This led to substantial organizational and procedural changes, recruitment and training of new personnel, and enhanced stakeholder engagement to facilitate the new process. Moving forward, the Agency will build upon its experiences from the past year to further streamline the efficiency of its processes.
Level of Temporary Funding: A significant portion of the Agency's budget is temporary (37% in 2023-24), and many employees are not permanent, often leaving for permanent positions elsewhere when opportunities arise. This leads to greater allocation of time and resources to staffing and training, accompanied by a decrease in productivity. Consequently, the Agency is diligently monitoring and managing its financial resources to optimize staffing, onboarding, and training processes within the constraints of available funding.
Resources required to achieve results
Table 2: Snapshot of resources required for independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
Table 2 provides a summary of the planned and actual spending and full-time equivalents required to achieve results.
Resource
|
Planned
|
Actual
|
---|---|---|
Spending
|
22,451,377
|
38,592,596
|
Full-time equivalents
|
186
|
287
|
The 2023-24 planned resources were set out in the 2023-24 Departmental Plan. However, since the tabling of the 2023-24 Departmental Plan, the Agency received approval for $20.6 million in temporary funding via Budget 2023. This renewal and increase in temporary funding allowed the Agency to increase its staff complement in order to continue to respond to a higher number of air passenger and accessibility related complaints as well as continue its comprehensive review of business processes in order to better serve Canadians. The 2023-24 actual resources are a reflection of this increase in funding.
Complete financial and human resources information for the Canadian Transportation Agency’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Related government-wide priorities
Gender-based analysis plus
The Agency has included gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) in the mandatory training curriculum for all staff to ensure the Agency continues to advance gender equality and build policies, programs and services that respect GBA+ values.
Human resources
- Given that the Agency is a small organization, the Agency currently has no resources solely dedicated to GBA+. However, GBA+ is prioritized and where required, internal resources are assigned to conduct GBA+ analyses, mostly in the context of Workforce and Workplace Services, and contributions to Treasury Board Submissions and Memoranda to Cabinet of other government departments.
Planned initiatives
- In 2023–24, GBA+ continued to be applied and monitored in the context of cost-benefit analyses within the Treasury Board Submissions process.
Reporting capacity and data
- Data related to employment equity, diversity and inclusion will continue to be collected and tracked.
United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals
As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainable development, the Agency is dedicated to contributing to the Government of Canada’s sustainable development goals and targets. The Agency efforts are described in the Agency's 2023-27 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy (DSDS), directly support three key goals of the 2022-2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS):
- Goal 10: Reconciliation and Inequality Reduction – The Agency focuses on advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and taking action to reduce inequality.
- Goal 12: Sustainable Transportation and Waste Reduction – The Agency aims to reduce waste and transition to zero-emission vehicles.
- Goal 13: Climate Change Action – The Agency is committed to taking action on climate change and addressing its impacts.
In alignment with the United Nations Decade of Action, the Agency strives to integrate these goals across its strategic policies and activities, mobilizing all sectors of society to develop sustainable solutions to global challenges and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The Agency’s Departmental Actions Supporting the Sustainable Development Strategy:
- Goal 10 Actions:
- Indigenous Consultation Compliance: Once the Agency becomes aware that potential Agency decisions may trigger the Crown’s duty to consult, the Agency ensures this duty is fulfilled consistent with the law, the honour of the Crown, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and reconciliation objectives.
- Renewal of Indigenous Engagement: In the year ahead, the Agency will begin a review of its approach to Indigenous engagement, specifically focusing on how it applies to rail line construction approvals under section 98 of the Canada Transportation Act.
- Goal 12 Action:
- Green Procurement Policy Compliance: The Agency adheres to and will continue to adhere to the principles of the FSDS by complying with the Policy on Green Procurement.
- Goal 13 Action:
- Climate Change Training for Employees: We ensure that relevant employees are trained on assessing climate change impacts, conducting climate change risk assessments, and developing adaptation actions within one year of identification.
More information on Canadian Transportation Agency’s contributions to Canada’s Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy (DSDS).
Innovation
The Agency continued to innovate in the ways that it connects with Canadians and conducts its activities.
- Complaints Resolution Office Process and Implementation
- In only three months the Agency completely redesigned and implemented a new streamlined complaints process which launched officially on September 30, 2023. The new CRO was designed to be more straightforward, rapid, and cost-effective, with clearly established timelines and a greater ability to benefit from automation.
- The implementation relied on a framework of continuous improvement whereby solutions could be quickly developed, tested and implemented, to then receive feedback directly from users to further ideate and improve the processes and systems.
- The process was built with technology and data in mind from the outset. Where possible workflows have been automated. For example communications with complaint parties are largely driven by the system itself and do not require the time of Compliant Resolution Officers. Additionally the system was designed to provide access to detailed analytics and feedback to enable informed decision-making and targeted improvements.
- Accessibility: The Agency has adopted and will continue to develop measures to improve accessibility, namely:
- Ensuring that persons with disabilities are directly involved in improving accessibility using a variety of innovative approaches:
- The Agency, in collaboration with a small advisory group comprised of persons with disabilities, developed a consultation plan for expanding the ATPDR to small service providers. This plan was shared with the Agency's Accessibility Advisory Committee for their review and input. In parallel, the Agency held seven discussion meetings with small groups of industry representatives and members of the disability community to learn about the experience of persons with disabilities when travelling with small transportation service providers and the operational realities and challenges these providers have in delivering accessibility services. The Agency also organized visits – accompanied by representatives of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the National Coalition of People Who Use Guide and Service Dogs and the Canadian Association of the Deaf – to three locations and the associated small transportation service providers. These engagement sessions with regional stakeholders took place in the Yukon, Northern Quebec and Northern Ontario.
- Implemented a collaborative compliance pilot project to shadow persons with disabilities during their travel to better understand their lived experience, the services available to them, and their unique needs and challenges.
- Published guidance material related to the Accessible Transportation Planning and Reporting Regulations (ATPRR) on its website, including plain language summaries of the guides and corresponding American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) interpretation.
- Participated in an interdepartmental steering committee with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and Employment and Social Development Canada to ensure a consistent government approach to compliance monitoring and enforcement of new regulatory requirements under the Accessible Canada Act (such as the ATPRR).
- Ensuring that persons with disabilities are directly involved in improving accessibility using a variety of innovative approaches:
Program inventory
Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users is supported by the following programs:
- Determinations and Compliance
- Dispute Resolution
Additional information related to the program inventory for Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users is available on the Results page on GC InfoBase.
Internal services
Description
Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:
- management and oversight services
- communications services
- legal services
- human resources management services
- financial management services
- information management services
- information technology services
- real property management services
- materiel management services
- acquisition management services
Progress on results
This section presents details on how the department performed to achieve results and meet targets for internal services.
In 2023-24, the Canadian Transportation Agency worked on creating a more inclusive, barrier-free and safe workplace for all employees through several activities:
- Recruitment moved forward to help address the increasing number of complaints arising from the new regulatory framework that the Agency has the responsibility to implement. Over 100 employees were onboarded and trained in the past year;
- The flexibility provided by a hybrid work model has enabled the Agency to staff outside of the National Capital Region, which has contributed to increased the representation of equity-seeking groups within the Agency and help create a more diverse workforce;
- A number of promotional activities throughout the year in support of diversity and inclusion were initiated by the HR team and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee; and
- In 2024, the Agency was named as one of the Top Employers in the National Capital Region.
- The Agency was recognized for our commitment to creating a positive and inclusive work environment and our dedication to offering competitive benefits, professional development opportunities, and a supportive workplace culture.
Additional investments in information technology and information management have allowed the Agency to deliver more modern, accessible and secure digital tools and applications in 2023-24 through a number of initiatives:
- The Agency continued the modernization of its case management system by retiring former aging platforms and introducing automation and data analytics to improve dispute resolution processes and better manage the influx of air and accessibility complaints.
- Further improvements were made to IM/IT systems to meet legislative requirements and enhance the Agency's security posture.
Resources required to achieve results
Table 3: Resources required to achieve results for internal services this year
Table 3 provides a summary of the planned and actual spending and full-time equivalents required to achieve results.
Resource
|
Planned
|
Actual
|
---|---|---|
Spending
|
8,894,185
|
16,683,128
|
Full-time equivalents
|
52
|
93
|
The 2023-24 planned resources stem from the 2023-24 Departmental Plan. However, since the tabling of the 2023-24 Departmental Plan, the Agency received approval for $20.6 million in temporary funding via Budget 2023. This renewal and increase in temporary funding allowed the Agency to make investments in technology to improve its systems as well as better support the Agency's increased efforts in providing dispute resolution services to Canadians. The 2023-24 actual resources are a reflection of this increase in funding.
The complete financial and human resources information for the Canadian Transportation Agency’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses
Government of Canada departments are to meet a target of awarding at least 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous businesses each year. This commitment is to be fully implemented by the end of 2024–25.
Canadian Transportation Agency's result for 2023-24:
As shown in the Table 4, Canadian Transportation Agency awarded 13.35% of the total value of all contracts to Indigenous businesses for the fiscal year.
Table 4: Total value of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses Footnote a
Contracting performance indicators
|
2023-24 Results
|
---|---|
Total value of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses Footnote b (A)
|
$ 462,495
|
Total value of contracts awarded to Indigenous and non‑Indigenous businesses Footnote c (B)
|
$ 3,463,939
|
Value of exceptions approved by deputy head (C)
|
$ 0
|
Proportion of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses [A / (B−C) × 100]
|
13.35 %
|
A key part of the Agency's procurement strategy for the 2023-24 fiscal year was to utilize Voluntary Set-Asides for Indigenous Businesses, whereby federal departments/agencies may designate any procurement as being restricted exclusively to qualified Indigenous suppliers. The Agency procurement officials worked with contracting officers from Public Services and Procurement Canada to meet and exceed the 5% performance objectives under the program, by identifying opportunities for voluntary Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB) set-asides, when qualified Indigenous suppliers were known to exist in the marketplace.
An internal report is used to track the percentage of contracts and additional measures may be taken if the percentage is not on track with the Agency's planned target of 5%.
The Agency procurement officials have completed the mandatory course "Indigenous Considerations in Procurement" (COR409) from the Canada School of Public Service.
In its 2024–25 Departmental Plan, the department forecasted that, by the end of 2023–24, it would award 5 % of the total value of its contracts to Indigenous businesses.
Spending and human resources
-
In this section
Spending
This section presents an overview of the department's actual and planned expenditures from 2021–22 to 2026–27.
Budgetary performance summary
Table 5: Actual three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)
Table 5 presents how much money Canadian Transportation Agency spent over the past three years to carry out its core responsibilities and for internal services.
Core responsibilities and internal services
|
2023–24 Main Estimates
|
2023–24 total authorities available for use
|
Actual spending over three years (authorities used)
|
---|---|---|---|
Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
|
22,483,668
|
37,734,022
|
|
Internal services
|
8,904,136
|
17,926,830
|
|
Total
|
31,387,804
|
55,660,852
|
|
Analysis of the past three years of spending
In 2023-24, there was an increase in spending in comparison to the previous fiscal years. This increase in spending is mainly attributable to two factors:
- Following the renewal and increase in temporary funding via Budget 2023, the Agency increased its staff complement in order to continue to respond to a higher number of air passenger and accessibility related complaints, made investments in technology to improve its systems as well as continued its comprehensive review of business processes in order to better serve Canadians.
- In addition to the increased staff complement, personnel expenditures were greater in 2023-24 following the renewal of various collective agreements.
More financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.
Table 6: Planned three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)
Table 6 presents how much money Canadian Transportation Agency’s plans to spend over the next three years to carry out its core responsibilities and for internal services.
Core responsibilities and internal services
|
2024–25 planned spending
|
2025–26 planned spending
|
2026–27 planned spending
|
---|---|---|---|
Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
|
40,103,789
|
39,789,227
|
23,884,925
|
Internal services
|
16,155,598
|
16,028,878
|
9,621,915
|
Total
|
56,259,387
|
55,818,105
|
33,506,840
|
Analysis of the next three years of spending
Planned spending is expected to remain consistent over the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years. However, planned spending in 2026-27 reflects a decrease of approximately $22.3 million due to the sunsetting temporary funds received as per Budget 2023 (i.e., $75.9 million over three years, starting in 2023-24).
More detailed financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.
Funding
This section provides an overview of the department's voted and statutory funding for its core responsibilities and for internal services. For further information on funding authorities, consult the Government of Canada budgets and expenditures.
Graph 2 summarizes the department's approved voted and statutory funding from 2021-22 to 2026-27.
Text description of graph 2
For fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24, the amounts represent the actual expenditures as reported in the Public Accounts.
For fiscal year 2024-25, the forecast spending represents the planned budgetary and statutory expenditures as presented in the Estimates documents (Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates) and amounts approved by the Treasury Board as December 1, 2023. This includes a $10.1 million increase in temporary funding to expand the Agency’s capacity to process air passengers complaints, as per Budget 2023.
For fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27, the planned spending reflects a decrease of approximately $22.3 million compared to the previous year due to the sunsetting of temporary funds received in Budget 2023. However, in June 2023, the Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1, received Royal Assent, modifying the Act to provide the Agency with the authority to implement a cost recovery regime. Although the fees or charges levied will fund some operations related to processing air travel complaints and administrating the Act, these amounts cannot be estimated with reasonable certainty and as a result, are not included in the planned spending.
The Agency's planned spending does not include the reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures and the operating budget carry-forward, as these cannot be estimated with certainty. Additionally, the Agency's statutory spending, as indicated in the graph above, relates to the Employee Benefit Plan, which is based on planned salary spending and fluctuates with voted spending.
Fiscal year
|
Total
|
Voted
|
Statutory
|
---|---|---|---|
2021-22
|
$42,887,887
|
$38,453,775
|
$4,434,112
|
2022-23
|
$41,130,317
|
$36,683,294
|
$6,064,145
|
2023-24
|
$55,275,724
|
$49,211,579
|
$6,064,145
|
2024-25
|
$56,259,387
|
$50,218,650
|
$6,040,737
|
2025-26
|
$55,818,105
|
$49,826,137
|
$5,991,968
|
2026-27
|
$33,506,840
|
$29,875,056
|
$3,631,784
|
Analysis of statutory and voted funding over a six-year period
Spending fluctuations between the years shown in the graph and table above were mainly caused by the renewal and increase in temporary funding provided to the Agency via Budget 2023. Budget 2023 announced that the Agency would receive $75.9 million over three years, starting in 2023-24, primarily to ensure it has the necessary resources to provide dispute resolution services to Canadians. The decrease in the 2026-27 planned spending reflects the sunsetting temporary funds.
For further information on Canadian Transportation Agency’s departmental voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada.
Financial statement highlights
Canadian Transportation Agency’s complete financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2024, are available online.
Table 7: Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2024 (dollars)
Financial information
|
2023–24 actual results
|
2023–24 planned results
|
Difference (actual results minus planned)
|
---|---|---|---|
Total expenses
|
60,808,420
|
35,497,737
|
25,310,683
|
Total revenues
|
|
-
|
131
|
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers
|
60,808,289
|
35,497,737
|
25,310,552
|
The 2023-24 planned results information is provided in Canadian Transportation Agency’s Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2023–24.
Financial information
|
2023–24 actual results
|
2022–23 actual results
|
Difference (2023-24 minus 2022-23)
|
---|---|---|---|
Total expenses
|
60,808,420
|
45,753,857
|
15,054,563
|
Total revenues
|
131
|
304
|
(173)
|
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers
|
60,808,289
|
45,753,553
|
15,054,736
|
Table 9 Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2024 (dollars)
Table 9 provides a brief snapshot of the department’s liabilities (what it owes) and assets (what the department owns), which helps to indicate its ability to carry out programs and services.
Financial information
|
Actual fiscal year (2023–24)
|
Previous fiscal year (2022–23)
|
Difference (2023–24 minus 2022–23)
|
---|---|---|---|
Total net liabilities
|
11,002,167
|
7,323,793
|
3,678,374
|
Total net financial assets
|
7,801,884
|
4,576,366
|
3,225,518
|
Departmental net debt
|
3,200,283
|
2,747,427
|
452,856
|
Total non-financial assets
|
1,902,580
|
1,035,371
|
867,209
|
Departmental net financial position
|
(1,297,703)
|
(1,712,056)
|
414,353
|
Human resources
This section presents an overview of the department’s actual and planned human resources from 2021–22 to 2026–27.
Table 10: Actual human resources for core responsibilities and internal services
Table 10 shows a summary of human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for the Agency’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years.
Core responsibilities and internal services
|
2021–22 actual full-time equivalents
|
2022–23 actual full-time equivalents
|
2023–24 actual full-time equivalents
|
---|---|---|---|
Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
|
245
|
224
|
287
|
Internal services
|
68
|
70
|
93
|
Total
|
313
|
294
|
380
|
Analysis of human resources over the last three years
Similar to trends seen in actual spending, changes in full-time equivalents over the last three (3) years are largely explained by the renewal and increase in temporary funding provided to the Agency via Budget 2022 and Budget 2023.
As the Agency only received temporary funding to address its operational pressures, staffing actions have been primarily determinate and casual in nature. As a significant portion of the Agency's budget is temporary, it is making the hiring and retention of new staff a challenge, as term and contract positions are less appealing than indeterminate positions for prospective candidates. This could result in a higher turnover in staff which could then have an impact on the rate at which expenditures are incurred and ultimately, on the Agency's overall financial situation and capacity to deliver outcomes. With sunsetting funds in 2021-2022, these determinate and casual appointments could not be renewed. On April 7, 2022, Budget 2022 was released and included a renewal of temporary funding for the Agency. Only upon this announcement was the Agency able to resume its determinate and casual staffing actions, thus explaining the lower full-time equivalent count in 2022-2023.
On March 28, 2023, Budget 2023 was released and announced that the Agency would receive $75.9 million over three years, starting in 2023-24, primarily to ensure it has the necessary resources to provide dispute resolution services to Canadians. As the temporary funding was for longer than one (1) fiscal year, the Agency was able to renew and initiate new staffing actions with longer term periods, thus securing additional full-time equivalents in 2023-24.
Table 11: Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services
Table 11 shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for each of the Agency’s core responsibilities and for its internal services planned for the next three years. Human resources for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on year to date.
Core responsibilities and internal services
|
2024–25 planned full-time equivalents
|
2025–26 planned full-time equivalents
|
2026–27 planned full-time equivalents
|
---|---|---|---|
Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
|
338
|
321
|
276
|
Internal services
|
105
|
92
|
92
|
Total
|
443
|
413
|
368
|
Analysis of human resources for the next three years
Similar to trends seen in planned spending, changes in full-time equivalents for the next three (3) fiscal years are largely explained by the renewed and increased temporary funding provided to the Agency via Budget 2023. On March 28, 2023, Budget 2023 was released and announced that the Agency would receive $75.9 million over three years, starting in 2023-24, primarily to ensure it has the necessary resources to provide dispute resolution services to Canadians. The decrease in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 planned full-time equivalents reflects the sunsetting of the temporary funding.
Corporate information
Departmental profile
Appropriate minister(s):
The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, P.C., M.P., Minister of Transport
Institutional head:
France Pégeot, Chair and Chief Executive Officer
Ministerial portfolio:
Transport
Enabling instrument(s):
Year of incorporation / commencement:
1904
Other:
The Agency shares responsibility for the following acts:
- 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 Agency has sole responsibility for the following regulations:
- Accessible Transportation Planning and Reporting Regulations, SOR/2021-243
- Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations,SOR/2019-244
- Air Passenger Protection Regulations,SOR/2019-150
- Air Transportation Regulations,SOR/88-58
- 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 Agency shares responsibility for the following regulations:
- 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
The Agency has promulgated the following Rules:
- Canadian Transportation Agency Rules (Dispute Proceedings and Certain Rules Applicable to All Proceedings), SOR/2014-104
- Rules of Procedure for Rail Level of Service Arbitration, SOR/2014-94
These acts and regulations are available on the Department of Justice website, and are accessible through the “Acts and Regulations” section of the Agency's website.
Departmental contact information
Mailing address:
Canadian Transportation Agency, 60 Laval Street, Unit 01, Gatineau, QC, J8X 3G9
Telephone:
1-888-222-2592
TTY:
1-800-669-5575
Fax:
819-997-6727
Email:
Website(s):
Supplementary information tables
The following supplementary information tables are available on the Agency’s website:
Federal tax expenditures
The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and GBA Plus of tax expenditures.
Definitions
List of terms
- appropriation (crédit)
- Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
- budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)
- Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, departments or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.
- core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)
- An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.
- Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)
- A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.
- departmental priority (priorité)
- A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.
- departmental result (résultat ministériel)
- A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.
- departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)
- A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.
- departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
- A framework that connects the department’s core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.
- Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
- A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.
- Full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
- A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the full-time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person’s collective agreement.
- gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])
- An analytical tool used to assess support the development of responsive and inclusive how different groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and policies, programs, and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
- government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
- For the purpose of the 2023–24 Departmental Results Report, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the November 23, 2021, Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fight harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation; and fighting for a secure, just and equitable world.
- horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
- An initiative where two or more federal departments are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.
- non budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)
- Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.
- performance (rendement)
- What a department did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the department intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.
- performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)
- A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an department, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.
- plan (plan)
- The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how a department intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.
- planned spending (dépenses prévues)
- For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates.
A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports. - program (programme)
- Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.
- program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
- Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.
- result (résultat)
- A consequence attributed, in part, to an department, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single department, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the department’s influence.
- Indigenous business (entreprise autochtones)
- For the purpose of the Directive on the Management of Procurement Appendix E: Mandatory Procedures for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses and the Government of Canada’s commitment that a mandatory minimum target of 5% of the total value of contracts is awarded to Indigenous businesses, a department that meets the definition and requirements as defined by the Indigenous Business Directory.
- statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)
- Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.
- target (cible)
- A measurable performance or success level that a department, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.
- voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
- Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.
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