Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Raison d’être

The Canadian Transportation Agency is a quasi-judicial expert tribunal and regulator that delivers independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services to transportation providers and users. The Agency is an arm's length organization that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Transport.

Mandate and role

The Agency has three mandates:

• The Agency helps ensure that the national transportation system runs efficiently and smoothly in the economic and social interests of all Canadians; including those who work and invest in it; the producers, shippers, travellers and businesses who rely on it; and the communities where it operates.
• The Agency protects the human right of persons with disabilities to an accessible transportation network.
• The Agency provides consumer protection for air passengers.

To help advance these mandates, the Agency has three tools at its disposal:

• Rule-making: The Agency develops and applies ground rules that establish the rights and responsibilities of transportation service providers and users and that level the playing field among competitors. These rules can take the form of binding regulations or less formal guidelines, codes of practice or interpretation notes.
• Dispute resolution: The Agency resolves 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: The Agency provides information on the transportation system, the rights and responsibilities of transportation providers and users, and its legislation and services.