Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 1996, c. 10)

Marginal note:Advertising regulations

• 86.1 (1) The Agency shall make regulations respecting advertising in all media, including on the Internet, of prices for air services within, or originating in, Canada.

• Marginal note:Contents of regulations

  (2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), regulations shall be made under that subsection requiring a carrier who advertises a price for an air service to include in the price all costs to the carrier of providing the service and to indicate in the advertisement all fees, charges and taxes collected by the carrier on behalf of another person in respect of the service, so as to enable a purchaser of the service to readily determine the total amount to be paid for the service.

• Marginal note:Regulations may prescribe

  (3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the regulations may prescribe what are costs, fees, charges and taxes for the purposes of subsection (2).

Marginal note:Regulations — carrier’s obligations towards passengers

• 86.11 (1) The Agency shall, after consulting with the Minister, make regulations in relation to flights to, from and within Canada, including connecting flights,

  • (a) respecting the carrier’s obligation to make terms and conditions of carriage and information regarding any recourse available against the carrier, as specified in the regulations, readily available to passengers in language that is simple, clear and concise;

  • (b) respecting the carrier’s obligations in the case of flight delay, flight cancellation or denial of boarding, including

    • (i) the minimum standards of treatment of passengers that the carrier is required to meet and the minimum compensation the carrier is required to pay for inconvenience when the delay, cancellation or denial of boarding is within the carrier’s control,

    • (ii) the minimum standards of treatment of passengers that the carrier is required to meet when the delay, cancellation or denial of boarding is within the carrier’s control, but is required for safety purposes, including in situations of mechanical malfunctions,

    • (iii) the carrier’s obligation to ensure that passengers complete their itinerary when the delay, cancellation or denial of boarding is due to situations outside the carrier’s control, such as natural phenomena and security events, and

    • (iv) the carrier’s obligation to provide timely information and assistance to passengers;

  • (c) prescribing the minimum compensation for delayed, lost or damaged baggage that the carrier is required to pay;

  • (d) respecting the carrier’s obligation to facilitate the assignment of seats to children under the age of 14 years in close proximity to a parent, guardian or tutor at no additional cost and to make the carrier’s terms and conditions and practices in this respect readily available to passengers;

  • (e) requiring the carrier to establish terms and conditions of carriage with regard to the transportation of musical instruments;

  • (f) respecting the carrier’s obligations in the case of tarmac delays over three hours, including the obligation to provide timely information and assistance to passengers, as well as the minimum standards of treatment of passengers that the carrier is required to meet; and

  • (g) respecting any of the carrier’s other obligations that the Minister may issue directions on under subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Ministerial directions

  (2) The Minister may issue directions to the Agency to make a regulation under paragraph (1)(g) respecting any of the carrier’s other obligations towards passengers. The Agency shall comply with these directions.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (3) A person shall not receive compensation from a carrier under regulations made under subsection (1) if that person has already received compensation for the same event under a different passenger rights regime than the one provided for under this Act.

• Marginal note:Obligations deemed to be in tariffs

  (4) The carrier’s obligations established by a regulation made under subsection (1) are deemed to form part of the terms and conditions set out in the carrier’s tariffs in so far as the carrier’s tariffs do not provide more advantageous terms and conditions of carriage than those obligations.

Marginal note:Regulations and orders

86.2 A regulation or order made under this Part may be conditional or unconditional or qualified or unqualified and may be general or restricted to a specific area, person or thing or group or class of persons or things.

PART IIIRailway Transportation

DIVISION IInterpretation and Application

Marginal note:Definitions

87 In this Part,

crude oil

crude oil means virgin or naturally occurring unrefined petroleum, or diluted bitumen or any other unrefined hydrocarbon mixture that is similar in composition to virgin or naturally occurring unrefined petroleum. It includes crude oil with the UN numbers 1267 and 3494 that are set out in Column 1 of the Dangerous Goods List in Chapter 3.2 of the Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods – Model Regulations, Eighteenth revised edition, 2013, published by the United Nations; (pétrole brut)

land

land includes an interest in land and, in relation to land in the Province of Quebec, includes the interest of a lessee; (terres)

metropolitan area

metropolitan area means any area that is classified by Statistics Canada in its most recent census of Canada as a census metropolitan area; (région métropolitaine)

operate

operate includes, with respect to a railway, any act necessary for the maintenance of the railway or the operation of a train; (exploitation)

point of destination

point of destination means, with respect to traffic on a railway line that is subject to a transfer described in subsection 128(4) or section 131, the point where the traffic is transferred from the line of a railway company to a line to which this Part does not apply; (point de destination)

point of origin

point of origin means, with respect to traffic on a railway line that is subject to a transfer described in subsection 128(4) or section 131, the point where the traffic is transferred to the line of a railway company from a line to which this Part does not apply; (point d’origine)

public passenger service provider

public passenger service provider means VIA Rail Canada Inc., a passenger rail service provider designated by the Minister or an urban transit authority; (société de transport publique)

Quebec–Windsor corridor

Quebec–Windsor corridor means the area of Canada that is bounded

• (a) to the east by longitude 70.50° W,

• (b) to the north by a straight line connecting a first point located at latitude 47.45° N and longitude 70.50° W to a second point located at latitude 43.70° N and longitude 83.25° W,

• (c) to the west by longitude 83.25° W, and

• (d) to the south by the Canada-United States border; (axe Québec-Windsor)

railway

railway means a railway within the legislative authority of Parliament and includes

• (a) branches, extensions, sidings, railway bridges, tunnels, stations, depots, wharfs, rolling stock, equipment, stores, or other things connected with the railway, and

• (b) communications or signalling systems and related facilities and equipment used for railway purposes; (chemin de fer)

railway company

railway company means a person who holds a certificate of fitness under section 92, a partnership of such persons or a person who is mentioned in subsection 90(2); (compagnie de chemin de fer)

road

road means any way or course, whether public or not, available for vehicular or pedestrian use; (route)

Special Act

Special Act means an Act under which a railway company has authority to construct or operate a railway, or that is enacted with special reference to a railway, and includes

• (a) letters patent constituting a company’s authority to construct or operate a railway, granted before April 1, 1969, under any Act, and the Act under which the letters patent were granted or confirmed, and

• (b) letters patent incorporating a company under section 11 of the Railway Act on or after April 1, 1969, whose objects are the construction or operation of a railway in Canada; (loi spéciale)

tariff

tariff means a schedule of rates, charges, terms and conditions applicable to the movement of traffic and incidental services; (tarif)

traffic

traffic means the traffic of goods, including equipment required for their movement; (transport ou trafic)

urban transit authority

urban transit authority means an entity owned or controlled by the federal government or a provincial, municipal or district government that provides commuter services; (administration de transport de banlieue)

Vancouver–Kamloops corridor

Vancouver–Kamloops corridor means the area of Canada that is bounded

• (a) to the east by longitude 121.21° W,

• (b) to the north by latitude 50.83° N,

• (c) to the west by longitude 128.45° W, and

• (d) to the south by the Canada-United States border. (axe Vancouver-Kamloops)

Marginal note:Application

• 88 (1) This Part applies to all persons, railway companies and railways within the legislative authority of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Special cases

  (2) Without limiting the effect of subsection (1), this Part applies to

  • (a) a company operating a railway from the United States into Canada; and

  • (b) a railway, or a portion of a railway, whether or not constructed under the authority of an Act of Parliament, that is owned, controlled, leased or operated by a person who operates a railway within the legislative authority of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Works for the general advantage of Canada

  (3) A railway or a portion of a railway mentioned in paragraph (2)(b) is declared to be a work for the general advantage of Canada.

• Marginal note:Cessation of declaration

  (4) A declaration by subsection (3) or by any other Act of Parliament that a railway is a work for the general advantage of Canada, or for the advantage of two or more provinces, ceases to have effect with respect to a line of the railway, or a portion of it, whose operation is discontinued under Division V or is the subject of a transfer under that Division to a person other than a company mentioned in paragraph (2)(b).

Marginal note:Special Act railways declared to be works for general advantage of Canada

89 If the construction or operation of a railway is authorized by a Special Act passed by the legislature of a province and the railway is declared by an Act of Parliament to be a work for the general advantage of Canada, this Part applies to the railway to the exclusion of any general railway Act of the province and any provisions of the Special Act that are inconsistent with this Part.

DIVISION IIConstruction and Operation of Railways

Certificate of Fitness

Marginal note:Certificate required

• 90 (1) No person shall

  • (a) construct a railway without being the holder of a certificate of fitness that is issued under paragraph 92(1)(a); or

  • (b) operate a railway without being the holder of a certificate of fitness that is

    • (i) issued under paragraph 92(1)(a) for the portion of the operation that relates to a passenger rail service, or

    • (ii) issued under paragraph 92(1)(b) for the portion of the operation that does not relate to a passenger rail service.

• Marginal note:Exception — purchaser of railway

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a purchaser of a railway, or a portion of a railway, for a period of sixty days after the purchase if the railway or portion is purchased

  • (a) under a trust deed or mortgage;

  • (b) at the instance of the holders of a mortgage, bond or debenture for the payment of which a charge has been created on the railway or portion; or

  • (c) under any other lawful proceeding.

Marginal note:Application for certificate of fitness

• 91 (1) Any person may apply for a certificate of fitness for a railway, including a person who owns or leases the railway or controls, either directly or indirectly, a person who owns or leases the railway.

• Marginal note:Application for certain types of operations

  (2) If a person proposes to operate in Canada primarily on the railway of another railway company, the application must indicate the termini and route of every line of railway proposed to be operated.

Marginal note:Issuance of certificate of fitness

• 92 (1) The Agency shall issue a certificate of fitness

  • (a) for the proposed operation of a railway that relates to a passenger rail service or for the proposed construction of a railway, if the Agency is satisfied that there will be adequate liability insurance coverage for the proposed operation or construction, as determined in accordance with the regulations; or

  • (b) for the proposed operation of a railway that does not relate to a passenger rail service, if the Agency is satisfied that there will be, for the proposed operation, the applicable minimum liability insurance coverage, which includes any self-insurance, as set out in Schedule IV.

• Marginal note:Covered risks

  (1.1) The liability insurance referred to in paragraph (1)(b) must cover the following risks that may arise out of the proposed operation:

  • (a) third-party bodily injury or death, including injury or death to passengers;

  • (b) third-party property damage, excluding damage to goods carried on a shipper’s behalf;

  • (c) risks that are associated with a leak, pollution or contamination; and

  • (d) in the case of a railway accident as defined in section 152.5, the other losses, damages, costs and expenses described in subsection 153(1).

• Marginal note:Self-insurance

  (1.2) For the purpose of paragraph (1)(b), the amount of self-insurance must not exceed the maximum amount of self-insurance that the person who will be responsible for the proposed operation can sustain based on that person’s financial capability.

• Marginal note:Termini and route

  (2) A certificate of fitness issued pursuant to an application mentioned in subsection 91(2) must specify the termini and route of every railway line to be operated.

• Marginal note:Regulations made by Agency

  (3) The Agency may make regulations

  • (a) in respect of the proposed operation of a railway that relates to a passenger rail service or of a proposed construction of a railway, for determining the adequacy of liability insurance coverage, including any self-insurance; and

  • (b) in respect of the proposed operation of a railway that does not relate to a passenger rail service, respecting the provision of information that the Agency requires to determine whether there will be, for the proposed operation, the applicable minimum liability insurance coverage, which includes any self-insurance, as set out in Schedule IV.

• Marginal note:Regulations made by Governor in Council

  (4) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, amend Schedule IV by deleting or adding a class of railway operations and an amount of minimum liability insurance coverage or by amending such a class — including by adding or deleting factors that define its scope — or such an amount.