Departmental Results Report 2020-2021
Message from the Chair and Chief Executive Officer
On June 1, 2021, I was appointed Chair and CEO of the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA). I feel honoured to head this national institution given its history and the essential role it plays in the transportation system.
Like for all organizations and individuals, 2020-2021 has been like no other for the CTA because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Very quickly, employees organized themselves to work remotely to ensure that they could meet the many challenges that the pandemic brought to the organization.
CTA staff demonstrated their expertise, professionalism and dedication and worked quickly to give airlines the necessary operational flexibility at the beginning of the pandemic to ensure that they were able to adjust to travel restrictions. They also ensured that the air licences and permits, required for emergency repatriation flights to get Canadians home and for cargo flights to transport urgently-needed personal protective equipment to Canada, were issued as quickly as possible. At the same time, they have also managed to process a new record of complaints – more than 10 200, – many of them in the areas of passenger protection and accessibility.
A key regulatory milestone was also achieved in 2021-2022 to advance accessible transportation in Canada. Most provisions of the Regulations Amending the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR), and the Canadian Transportation Agency Designated Provisions Regulations came into force on June 25, 2020 and the CTA published, a suite of new guides in support. These are important accomplishments that will contribute to removing barriers to travel by persons with disabilities.
Looking forward, the CTA will prioritize being a modern, results-driven organization – working with regulated industries and other stakeholders to advance regulatory goals, innovating and updating CTA processes and services, and increasing the use of technology and data throughout the organization. Recognizing that the people are the reason the CTA has been so successful in delivering its mandate, I will want to work with all employees to make sure they maintain their expertise and agility to face the challenges of today and to prepare the organization for those of the future. I also want to continue cultivating a diverse workforce as well as an inclusive and equitable work environment where people get satisfaction from their work and their contribution to Canada.
The accomplishments of the CTA described in this report were realized under the leadership of my predecessor, Scott Streiner, who retired on May 31, 2021. I want to congratulate and thank him for his many years serving our country as a public servant and, particularly for the last 6 years, as chair and CEO of the CTA.
France Pégeot
Chair and Chief Executive Officer
Results at a glance
In 2020-21, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA):
Launched consultations on a new airline refund requirement to address a gap in the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) that was highlighted as a result of the pandemic;
Developed proposed Accessible Transportation Planning and Reporting Regulations (ATPRR) for transportation service providers;
Issued air licences and permits required for emergency repatriation flights to get Canadians home and for cargo flights to transport urgently-needed personal protective equipment to Canada;
Processed a new record number of air travel complaints – 10,227 – marking the fifth consecutive year of increases; and
Developed a series of new guidance materials to provide clear and relevant information on new regulatory requirements.
The CTA has three core mandates:
- Helping to ensure that the national transportation system runs efficiently and smoothly in the interests of all Canadians: those who work and invest in it; the producers, shippers, travellers and businesses who rely on it; and the communities where it operates;
- Protecting the human right of persons with disabilities to an accessible transportation network; and
- Providing consumer protection for air passengers.
The CTA uses three tools to help advance these mandates:
Rule-making: developing and enforcing ground rules that establish the rights and responsibilities of transportation service providers and users and that level the playing field among competitors.
Dispute resolution: resolving disputes that arise between transportation providers on the one hand, and their clients and neighbours on the other, using a range of tools from facilitation and mediation to arbitration and adjudication.
Information provision: providing information on the transportation system, the rights and responsibilities of transportation providers and users, and the CTA's legislation and services.
Canadians and people around the world continued to experience the far-reaching effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken tens of thousands of lives in Canada and millions of lives around the world, resulted in substantial disruptions to everyday life, and had significant impacts across most sectors of the economy. Given the direct and major implications of this extraordinary situation for travel and trade, the transportation sector is one of the most affected.
As outlined further in this year's report, the CTA delivered on its mandate throughout this historic crisis, and CTA staff provided our full range of services to Canadians, including by continuing to process an increased number of complaints, all while working remotely.
For more information on the CTA's plans, priorities and results achieved, see the “Results: what we achieved” section of this report.
What funds were used?
$41,397,229
Actual Spending
Who was involved?
319
Actual FTEs
Results: what we achieved
Core responsibility
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.
Results:
CTA response to the COVID-19 pandemic
In 2020-2021, the CTA took several steps to respond to the impacts of COVID-19 across the federal transportation network. Extensive consultations were conducted with members of the public, transportation service providers and other stakeholders to better understand those impacts. The CTA acted quickly and nimbly to put in place a number of measures aimed at managing the impacts of the pandemic on transportation providers, users, and the travelling public, including:
- Drafting, as requested by the Minister of Transport, proposed Regulations Amending the Air Passenger Protection Regulations. The proposed regulations would require airlines to provide passengers – flying in to, out of, or within Canada – refunds in the event of flight cancellations or lengthy delays, outside the airline’s control, that prevent it from ensuring that passengers complete their itinerary within a reasonable time. The CTA consulted on these proposed regulations from December 21, 2020 to March 1, 2021 and the proposed regulations were published in Part I of the Canada Gazette on July 2, 2021 for formal consultations.
- Providing, at the beginning of the pandemic, some temporary relief to the industry by granting exemptions to certain APPR provisions. The exemptions were granted at the beginning of the pandemic, but as the critical stages of the pandemic were passed and industry was planning its recovery, these exemptions were not extended.
- Publishing Accessible travel in the context of COVID-19 to ensure that transportation service providers meet the needs of persons with disabilities.
- Working with the National Research Council and Transport Canada to publish additional guidance, Best Practices for Accessible Travel in the Context of COVID-19. This covers best practices in physical distancing and navigation, mask use, sanitization and hand washing, and the communication of information.
- Processing over 130 applications for charter flights, which carried over 25,000 passengers and brought urgent medical supplies and cargo to Canada.
- Issuing an Order that provided Canadian carriers with a temporary exemption from the requirements of section 64 of the Canada Transportation Act, which permitted carriers to quickly adjust their operations to travel restrictions and to address rapidly dropping passenger volumes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CTA extended this exemption four times and, at the time of writing this report, it was set to expire on August 31, 2021.
- Informing the public of changes during the pandemic by:
- Creating a web page, Important Information for Travellers During COVID-19;
- Publishing information on how the CTA will be processing refund-related complaints resulting from the pandemic; and
- Publishing a summary of measures related to the pandemic, How the CTA is adapting to unprecedented and challenging times.
- Organizing an online forum on regulating transportation during and after COVID-19, in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
During 2020-21, the CTA helped air passengers and carriers by processing 10,227 complaints, an unprecedented figure that reflects the fifth consecutive year of increases. The CTA continued to receive a high volume of air travel complaints during 2020-21 – 13,275 – driven primarily by system-wide disruptions to passenger air travel triggered by the global pandemic. Given the record-setting spike in air travel complaints that immediately preceded the pandemic, the number of complaints to be processed by the CTA rose to over 17,000 during the year – the highest on record. During the reporting period, 99% of complaints were resolved through informal facilitation and mediation, using court-like adjudication to address the remainder.
Results related to the CTA's accessibility mandate include:
- Developing new regulations to ensure that accessibility-related orders can be enforced through monetary penalties of up to $250,000, while making other minor corrections to ensure that the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR) is as clear as possible;
- Developing proposed Accessible Transportation Planning and Reporting Regulations (ATPRR), which will implement accessible planning and reporting obligations under the Accessible Canada Act for transportation service providers;
- Holding consultations on guidelines for applying the ATPDR to small and medium transportation service providers to help them meet human rights obligations under Part V of the Canada Transportation Act. These guidelines will provide the basis for binding regulations;
- Posting 13 guides to support the coming into force of the ATPDR related to new obligations under those regulations;
- Resolving 174 accessibility complaints; and
- Answering 48 inquiries through the Accessible Transportation Complaints Help Line.
The CTA achieved other important results in 2020-21 related to its mandate in areas that include the issuance of licences and other determinations; the provision of support for international negotiations of air transport agreements; dispute resolution; and compliance monitoring and enforcement. For example, the CTA:
- Issued 94 new licencesNote 1;
- Issued Order No. 2021-A-3, which exempted airlines operating an international service from requirements in the Air Transportation Regulations (ATR) to file their tariffs with the CTA at least 45 days before their effective date; and to file their service schedules at least ten days before their effective date;
- Took part in negotiations resulting in one new and three expanded air transport agreements;
- Issued the first licence in Canada for the commercial operation of an air service using drones;
- Launched consultations on possible regulatory changes to the Railway Interswitching Regulations. The CTA has reviewed stakeholder input and will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the Interswitching Regulations. No regulatory amendments are being pursued at this time;
- Launched a consultation on issues related to the determination of cost of capital rates;
- Resolved 61 rail disputes;
- Answered 143 inquiries through the Rail, Shipper and Community Help Line;
- Completed its Review of the approach for setting regulated interswitching rates. This determination addressed:
- Methods for assessing productivity;
- Appropriate contribution to fixed costs; and
- Rates for 2021.
- Processed 36 coasting trade applications;
- Issued revised guides on:
- Advanced an inquiry after the CTA received many complaints from passengers alleging that air carriers did not accurately communicate the reasons for flight delays or cancellations. The Inquiry Officer’s Report found multiple communication issues leading to passenger frustration. The inquiry was in the adjudication stage at the time of writing;
- Completed a major revision to its Sample Tariff to assist airlines in meeting the key regulatory requirements of the APPR and the ATPDR;
- Published the Indigenous Consultation Framework after consulting with Indigenous representative organizations and other key stakeholders;
- Completed a project to modernize the compliance monitoring and enforcement program; and
- Reviewed the certificates of fitness of all railway companies that carry or host freight traffic.
Gender-based analysis plus
Institutional GBA+ capacity
The CTA continued fostering and maintaining a healthy, respectful workplace where every individual is treated with courtesy and dignity, harassment and discrimination are not tolerated, and different needs are accommodated. These core values are integrated in decision-making processes.
Gender and diversity impacts, by program
Internal Services
In 2020-21, GBA+ was applied and monitored in the context of Treasury Board submissions, draft regulations and memoranda to Cabinet. Data related to employment equity, diversity and inclusion was collected and tracked.
Experimentation
The CTA continued to experiment with innovative approaches in the manner that it connects with Canadians and conducts its activities, in the following ways:
Public engagement and consultation: The CTA engaged and consulted with Canadians using a variety of innovative approaches, such as online questionnaires, written submissions, and video consultation sessions across the country. Through these activities, the CTA was able to gain a greater understanding of the perspectives of a wide range of citizens, stakeholders and experts, and is better positioned to develop more informed and effective policies and programs.
Videoconference hearings: Oral hearings can be helpful when, for example, a file is particularly complex, or where the public interest in a case is especially high. The CTA considers videoconference options, for all or part of the hearing, in appropriate circumstances, both during and beyond the pandemic.
Compliance and enforcement: The CTA engaged in numerous innovative approaches and is developing tools in support of its compliance monitoring and enforcement modernization program (e.g., pattern and trend analysis, risk assessment tool, data analytics), to maximize proactive compliance by regulated entities. These reflect lessons learned during the pandemic, and the evolution of best practices more generally in the regulatory field, including through technological advances.
2030 Agenda for sustainable development
Although the CTA is not bound by the Federal Sustainable Development Act and is not required to develop a full Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy (DSDS), the CTA adheres to the principles of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) by complying with the Policy on Green Procurement.
The Policy on Green Procurement supports the Government of Canada’s effort to promote environmental stewardship. In keeping with the objectives of the policy, the CTA supports sustainable development by integrating environmental performance considerations into the procurement decision making process through the actions described in the 2019 to 2022 FSDS “Greening Government” goal.
Report on integrating sustainable development
The CTA will continue to ensure that its decision-making process includes consideration of FSDS goals and targets through its Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process. A SEA for policy, plan or program proposals includes an analysis of the impacts of the given proposal on the environment, including on FSDS goals and targets.
Public statements on the results of the CTA’s assessments are made public when an initiative that has undergone a detailed SEA is announced on the CTA's website. The purpose of the public statement is to demonstrate that the environmental effects, including the impacts on achieving the FSDS goals and targets, of the approved policy, plan or program have been considered during proposal development and decision making.
For the current reporting period, no detailed SEAs were completed.
Results achieved
| Departmental results | Performance indicators | Target | Date to achieve target | 2018-19 Actual results | 2019-20 Actual results | 2020-21 Actual results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An efficient, competitive national transportation system | Transportation Fluidity Index | Obtain baseline information (2021) | TBD | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| An efficient, competitive national transportation system | Percentage of regulatory authorities issued, and disputes and contested determination cases resolved within service standards | At least 85% | March 2021 | 90% | 93% | 93% |
| An efficient, competitive national transportation system | Percentage of transportation service providers that comply with legislative and regulatory requirements | At least 80% | March 2021 | 61% | 80% | Not available Note 2 |
| Accessible transportation services for persons with disabilities | Percentage of air, rail, marine carriers and facility operators complying with accessibility-related legislative and regulatory requirements and codes of practice | At least 80% | March 2021 | 74% | 69% | Not available Note 2 |
| Accessible transportation services for persons with disabilities | Percentage of accessibility disputes resolved within service standards | At least 80% | March 2021 | 79% | 84% | 82% |
| Consumer protection for air travellers | Percentage of air carriers complying with consumer protection legislative and regulatory requirements | Obtain baseline information (2021) | TBD | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Consumer protection for air travellers | Percentage of air consumer protection disputes resolved within service standards | At least 85% | March 2021 | 29% | 50% | 33% Note 3 |
Budgetary financial resources (dollars)
| 2020–21 Main Estimates | 2020–21 Planned spending | 2020–21 Total authorities available for use | 2020–21 Actual spending (authorities used) | 2020–21 Difference (Actual spending minus planned spending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24,646,232 | 24,646,232 | 31,660,358 | 30,404,751 | 5,758,519 |
Actual spending was 23.4% above planned spending for 2020-21. This increase is primarily attributable to the temporary funding received by the CTA in order to respond to a higher number of service and accessibility-related complaints, as announced in the 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot.
Human resources (full-time equivalents)
| 2020–21 Planned full-time equivalents | 2020–21 Actual full-time equivalents | 2020–21 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents) |
|---|---|---|
| 205 | 253 | 48 |
Actual full-time equivalents were 23.4% above planned full-time equivalents for 2020-21. This increase in human resources is primarily attributable to the temporary funding received by the CTA in order to respond to a higher number of service and accessibility-related complaints, as announced in the 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot.
Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canadian Transportation Agency’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.
Internal Services
Description
Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:
- Acquisition management services
- Communication services
- Financial management services
- Human resources management services
- Information management services
- Information technology services
- Legal services
- Material management services
- Management and oversight services
- Real property management services
Budgetary financial resources (dollars)
| 2020–21 Main Estimates | 2020–21 Planned spending | 2020–21 Total authorities available for use | 2020–21 Actual spending (authorities used) | 2020–21 Difference (actual spending minus planned spending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7,548,758 | 10,756,686 | 14,407,166 | 10,992,478 | 235,792 |
Actual spending is fairly consistent with the 2020-21 planned spending in Internal Services. However, the planned spending for 2020-21 included funding of $3.5 million to pay for the costs related to The Government of Canada Workplace 2.0 Fit-up Standards project, which is anticipated to be reprofiled to 2021-22. Despite this reprofile, actual spending included costs of approximately $1.0 million related to The Government of Canada Workplace 2.0 Fit-up Standards project as well as costs related to the Internal Services portion of the temporary funding received by the CTA in order to respond to a higher number of service and accessibility-related complaints, as announced in the 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot.
Human resources (full-time equivalents)
| 2020–21 Planned full-time equivalents | 2020–21 Actual full-time equivalents | 2020–21 Difference (actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents) |
|---|---|---|
| 57 | 66 | 9 |
Actual full-time equivalents were 15.8% more than planned full-time equivalents for 2020-21 in Internal Services. This variance corresponds to the Internal Services portion of the temporary funding received by the CTA in order to respond to a higher number of service and accessibility-related complaints, as announced in the 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot.
Analysis of trends in spending and human resources
Actual expenditures
Departmental spending trend graph
The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory spending) over time.
Details
| Fiscal year | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory | 3,459 | 3,785 | 4,638 | 2,751 | 3,484 | 3,484 |
| Voted | 29,685 | 31,493 | 36,759 | 30,666 | 27,420 | 27,420 |
| Total | 33,144 | 35,278 | 41,397 | 33,417 | 30,904 | 30,904 |
For fiscal years 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, the amounts shown represent the actual expenditures as reported in the Public Accounts.
For fiscal year 2021-22, the planned spending, as presented in the 2021-22 Departmental Plan, reflects a decrease of approximately $8.0 million in comparison to the previous year actual spending. However, since the tabling of the Departmental Plan on February 25, 2021, the CTA received approval for $9.4 million in temporary funding in order to continue to respond to a higher number of service and accessibility-related complaints, as announced in the 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot, bringing the total planned spending for 2021-22 to $42.8 million. Therefore, there is actually an increase of approximately $1.4 million in comparison to the previous year actual spending. This increase is primarily attributable to the $9.4 million mentioned above, which is offset by the sunsetting temporary funds received in 2020-21 ($7.6 million) as announced in the 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot, and the sunsetting funds received to support the CTA's modernization initiative ($1.2 million), as announced in Budget 2018. The planned spending does not include the reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures and the operating budget carry-forward, since these cannot be estimated with certainty.
For the period from 2022-23 to 2023-24, the planned spending reflects approved funding by Treasury Board to support the CTA's strategic outcome and programs. These planned expenditures are lower than in previous years due to the sunsetting funds to support the Accessible Canada Initiative, following the coming into force of the Accessible Canada Act on June 21, 2019. The planned spending does not include the reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures and the operating budget carry-forward, since these cannot be estimated with certainty.
Budgetary performance summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)
| Core responsibilities and Internal Services | 2020–21 Main Estimates | 2020–21 Planned spending | 2021-22 Planned spendingNote 4 | 2022-23 Planned spending | 2020–21 Total authorities available for use | 2018–19 Actual spending (authorities used) | 2019-20 Actual spending (authorities used) | 2020-21 Actual spending (authorities used) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users | 24,646,232 | 24,646,232 | 23,524,771 | 21,755,639 | 31,660,358 | 23,846,783 | 26,431,544 | 30,404,751 |
| Internal Services | 7,548,758 | 10,756,686 | 9,891,939 | 9,148,036 | 14,407,166 | 9,297,407 | 8,846,242 | 10,992,478 |
| Total | 32,194,990 | 35,402,918 | 33,416,710 | 30,903,675 | 46,067,524 | 33,144,190 | 35,277,786 | 41,397,229 |
The 2020-2021 variances between Main Estimates, planned spending, total authorities available for use and actual spending are largely attributable to the timing of the authorization of key elements of the fiscal cycle. The 2020-21 total authorities available for use ($46.1 million) represent the Main Estimates ($32.2 million), which include temporary funding of $1.2 million to support the CTA's modernization initiative, as announced in Budget 2018, and funding of $1.8 million to implement legislative and regulatory changes related to Canada's freight rail system, as announced in the 2017 Fall Economic Statement. They also represent adjustments to authorities such as new temporary funding of $7.6 million to respond to a higher number of service and accessibility-related complaints, as announced in the 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot, funding of $3.5 million to pay for the costs related to The Government of Canada Workplace 2.0 Fit-up Standards project reprofiled from 2019-20, new funding of $828K to support the Accessible Canada Initiative, the operating budget carry-forward and compensation adjustments arising from the renewal of collective agreements.
Total authorities available for use in 2020-21 ($46.1 million) were greater than the actual spending in 2020-21 ($41.4 million). The variance of $4.7 million is primarily due to the delays in the Government of Canada Workplace 2.0 Fit-up Standards project. As a result, only approximately $1.0 million was incurred for this project in 2020-21 and the $3.5 million funding is anticipated to be reprofiled from 2020-21 to 2021-22.
Total actual spending for 2020-21 ($41.4 million) was greater than the actual spending for 2019-20 ($35.3 million). This variance is primarily attributable to the temporary funding received by the CTA in order to respond to a higher number of service and accessibility-related complaints, as announced in the 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot.
Actual human resources
Human resources summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services
| Core responsibilities and Internal Services | 2018-19 Actual full-time equivalents | 2019-20 Actual full-time equivalents | 2020–21 Planned full time equivalents | 2020–21 Actual full time equivalents | 2021-22 Planned full-time equivalents | 2022-23 Planned full-time equivalents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users | 198 | 223 | 205 | 253 | 194 | 187 |
| Internal Services | 72 | 63 | 57 | 66 | 58 | 54 |
| Total | 270 | 286 | 262 | 319 | 252 | 241 |
On average, the full-time equivalents have remained consistent up to fiscal year 2018-19. The increase in 2018-19 is primarily due to the increase in resources to address the workload associated with the increase in air travel complaints and to implement the CTA's new responsibilities following the coming into force of the Transportation Modernization Act on May 23, 2018. The increase in 2019-20 and 2020-21 is primarily due to the continued increase in resources to address the workload associated with the increase in service and accessibility-related complaints and to implement the APPR. The planned full-time equivalents are expected to decrease over the next couple of years in correspondence with the decrease in funds provided to respond to a higher number of service and accessibility-related complaints, to support the CTA's modernization initiative and the Accessible Canada Initiative.
Expenditures by vote
For information on the Canadian Transportation Agency’s organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2020–2021.
Government of Canada spending and activities
Information on the alignment of the Canadian Transportation Agency’s spending with the Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.
Financial statements and financial statements highlights
Financial statements
The Canadian Transportation Agency’s financial statements (unaudited) for the year that ended on March 31, 2021 are available on the departmental website.
Financial statement highlights
Condensed statement of operations (unaudited) for the year that ended March 31, 2021 (dollars)
| Financial information | 2020-21 Planned results | 2020-21 Actual results | 2019-20 Actual results | Difference (2020–21 Actual results minus 2020–21 planned results) | Difference (2020–21 Actual results minus 2019–20 actual results) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses | 36,413,993 | 46,806,415 | 40,505,470 | 10,392,422 | 6,300,945 |
| Total revenues | - | 7,220 | 35 | 7,220 | 7,185 |
| Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers | 36,413,993 | 46,799,195 | 40,505,435 | 10,385,202 | 6,293,760 |
The CTA's total expenses were $46.8 million in 2020-21, an increase of $6.3 million (15.5%) over the previous year's total expenses. This variance is primarily attributable to the temporary funding received by the CTA in order to respond to a higher number of service and accessibility-related complaints, as announced in the 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot. The majority of funds, $39.7 million (84.8%), were spent on salaries and employee benefits, 4.7% on accommodations, 4.5% on professional and special services, 2.2% on machinery and equipment, and the remaining 3.8% on rentals, information, transportation and telecommunication, amortization of tangible capital assets, utilities, materials and supplies, and repair and maintenance.
Condensed statement of financial position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2021 (dollars)
| Financial information | 2020-21 | 2019-20 | Difference (2020-21 minus 2019-20) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total net liabilities | 8,312,079 | 6,543,472 | 1,768,607 |
| Total net financial assets | 4,954,423 | 3,874,190 | 1,080,233 |
| Departmental net debt | 3,357,656 | 2,669,282 | 688,374 |
| Total non-financial assets | 1,111,823 | 862,054 | 249,769 |
| Departmental net financial position | (2,245,833) | (1,807,228) | (438,605) |
Total liabilities were $8.3 million at the end of 2020-21, an increase of $1.8 million (27.0%) over the previous year's total liabilities of $6.5 million. In 2019-20, the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused material disruption to businesses globally. As such, several orders could not be delivered prior to the end of the fiscal year resulting in lower accounts payable and accrued liabilities as at March 31, 2020. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities as well as vacation pay and compensatory leave represented the largest portion of total liabilities at $4.8 million and $2.6 million respectively.
Total financial and non-financial assets were $6.1 million at the end of 2020-21, which represents an increase of $1.4 million (28.1%) over the previous year's total financial and non-financial assets of $4.7 million. This increase is mainly due to an increase in the Due from Consolidated Revenue Fund (the result of the increase in liabilities) reported under the category “Financial Assets”. Financial assets represented $4.9 million (81.7%), tangible capital assets represented $779K (12.8%), while prepaid expenses and inventory represented 5.5% of total assets.
Corporate Information
Organizational profile
Appropriate minister: The Honourable Omar Alghabra, P.C, M.P., Minister of Transport
Institutional head: France Pégeot, Chair and Chief Executive Officer
Ministerial portfolio: Transport
Enabling instrument: Canada Transportation Act, SC 1996, c 10, as amended
Year of incorporation / commencement: 1904
Other:
The CTA 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 CTA has sole responsibility for the following regulations:
- 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 CTA 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 CTA 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 CTA's website.
Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on the CTA's website.
Operating context
Information on the operating context is available on the CTA's website.
Reporting framework
The CTA’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2020–21 are shown below.
Details
Core Responsibility : Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
Departmental Results Framework
Results and indicators
Result 1: An efficient, competitive national transportation system
Indicators
1A Transportation Fluidity Index
1B Percentage of regulatory authorities issued, and disputes and contested determination cases resolved within service standards
1C Percentage of transportation service providers that comply with legislative and regulatory requirements
Result 2: Accessible transportation services for persons with disabilities
Indicators
2A Percentage of air, rail, marine carriers and facility operators complying with accessibility-related legislative and regulatory requirements and codes of practice
2B Percentage of accessibility disputes resolved within service standards
Result 3: Consumer protection for air travellers
Indicators
3A Percentage of air carriers complying with consumer protection legislative and regulatory requirements
3B Percentage of air consumer protection disputes resolved within service standards
Program Inventory
- Analysis and Outreach
- Dispute Resolution
- Determinations and Compliance
Internal Services
Supporting information on the program inventory
Financial, human resources and performance information for Canadian Transportation Agency’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.
Supplementary information table
CTA's information regarding Reporting on Green Procurement and Gender-based analysis plus are included in the present report.
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+ of tax expenditures.
Organizational contact information
Mailing address
Canadian Transportation Agency
60 Laval Street, Unit 01
Gatineau, QC
J8X 3G9
Telephone: 1-888-222-2592
Fax: 819-997-6727
Email: info@otc-cta.gc.ca
Website(s): https://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/
Appendix: definitions
- 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, organizations 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 3 year period. Departmental plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.
- departmental priority (priorité ministérielle)
- 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.
- experimentation (expérimentation)
- The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.
- 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 the 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+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])
- An analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors, including race ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.
- government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
- For the purpose of the 2019–20 Departmental Results Report, those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2019 Speech from the Throne, namely: Fighting climate change; Strengthening the middle class; Walking the road of reconciliation; Keeping Canadians safe and healthy; and Positioning Canada for success in an uncertain world.
- horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
- An initiative where two or more federal organizations 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 an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization 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 organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.
- performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)
- The process of communicating evidence based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.
- plan (plan)
- The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization 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 results.
- planned spending (dépenses prévues)
- For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the 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 expenditures 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 organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the organization’s influence.
- 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 an organization, 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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