by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 10:35 AM ET, Wed January 14, 2026
A cost recovery plan ordered by the federal government to help recoup the costs associated with resolving air passenger complaints lodged with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has been delayed by successive Transportation Ministers, reports CBC.
By the end of last summer, the backlog of complaints had topped 85,000. Each of those have to be dealt with, and as it stands, the bill for the evaluation and administration of that sits with Canadian taxpayers — to the tune of an estimated $30 million a year.
To recoup some of the costs, in 2023 the federal government ordered the CTA to establish a fee that would be charged to airlines for each complaint. The $790 per complaint would be charged to the airline regardless of if they were found at fault or not, since the adjudication incurs a cost to the taxpayer either way. The Independent reports that the charge would still cover only about 60 percent of what it would cost taxpayers to handle the backlog of complaints.
While the proposal was largely supported by consumer groups and air passengers during public consultations in 2024, airlines balked, arguing that it would encourage "frivolous" complaints and suggesting passengers shoulder some of the cost.
Since then, the process seems to have come to a standstill. Air passenger complaints over delays, lost luggage or cancelled flights continue to mount and still the Canadian public is paying for them.
Reports by the CBC show that not only have successive Transport ministers not done anything to ease the process, they have actually undermined it.
Anita Anand, who was the minister in 2024 wrote a letter telling the CTA to delay the process and questioning its findings. Pauly Daly, research chair in administrative law and governance at the University of Ottawa, told CBC that Anand’s position was "spurious" and "constitutionally inappropriate."
Chrystia Freeland was the minister in May, 2025 when the CTA chair wrote to her, saying the agency was "ready and would like to move forward with the implementation of cost recovery." That did not happen.
The documents the CBC requested do not go past that to determine what happened, however, the cost recovery plan still has not been put into action and taxpayers continue to pay for the complaints to the CTA.
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