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MP3Take charge of your travel
Preparing to travel? These resources will help.
They will give you some ideas about how to plan and conduct your journey. They describe services designed to facilitate barrier-free travel on airplanes, trains, ferries and buses that cross a provincial/territorial or Canadian border. These resources can help you plan your trip with confidence, and to take charge of your travel experience!
You’ll find one important piece of advice repeated throughout these resources: talk with your transportation service provider ahead of time. Let them know how they can help. When they know what you require and are provided with enough advance notice, you can expect to receive the services you need.
Read the full Take Charge of Your Travel: A Guide for Travellers with Disabilities or the sections below to help you on your journey.
Government of Canada — Travel Advice and Advisories
Know your rights: A plain language summary
Accessible transportation for persons with disabilities is a human right that reflects the fundamental principles of equality, inclusion and dignity.
Planning ahead and making arrangements
Find out how to make service requests in advance and how to make arrangements to receive help during your trip.
Mobility aids
Learn what mobility aids and assistive devices are allowed, what service providers must offer and what your responsibilities are as a traveller.
Service dogs
Learn what is considered a service dog, the assistance that must be provided and the conditions of travelling with a trained service dog.
Travelling with a support person
Learn what services the transportation providers must provide if you are travelling with a support person, and how to request the service.
Curbside assistance and ground transportation
Find out what you need to know if you need help getting to or from the curbside drop-off to check in or arrival areas.
At the terminal
Learn about the services that can help you move through a terminal smoothly, including curbside assistance, check-in and security screening.
Onboard
Learn how service providers can help with your seats, announcements, meals, washrooms and onboard entertainment.
On arrival
Learn about services to help you collect your baggage and mobility aids, clear customs and prepare for ground transportation.
Severe allergies
Find out what obligations air, rail and bus carriers have towards a person with a severe allergy and the assistance they should provide.
Travelling outside Canada
Canadian standards and rules generally don't apply in other countries. Learn what you need to know, check and bring on your trip.
Traveller's checklist
This checklist will help you identify your travel needs and is useful when communicating with your travel agent or travel carrier.
Guides for accessible travel
These guides describe the rules that service providers must follow under the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR).
Resolving problems
Find out what to do if your travels do not go as planned, including the documents you need to keep, who to talk to and how the CTA can help.
File a complaint
Persons with disabilities have a right to equal access to federal transportation services. We can help you with complaints that are related to your disability.
Accessible Canada Act
The Accessible Canada Act defines disability as any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment — or a functional limitation — whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.
Accessibility standards
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