by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 1:45 PM ET, Mon May 4, 2026
Canada’s beleaguered Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) are getting an overhaul, aimed at shoring up what many see as toothless laws that don’t go far enough to protect passengers.
Federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon made the announcement at a press conference at the Ottawa Airport on Friday, May 1, 2026. “We hear repeatedly, the regulations themselves are too complex,” said MacKinnon. “We need a practical regime that safeguards passengers’ rights when travel does not go as planned.”
Among the changes is the quadrupling of the fine an airline can be subject to for not following the laws — skyrocketing from the current $250,000 maximum fine to $1 million.
Additionally, the current federal gag order prohibits travellers from publicly discussing their complaints will be eliminated.
Also announced was the government’s intention to hire a third party to adjudicate claims, relieving the CTA of its complaint backlog, which hovers at the 100,000 mark. Earlier in April, Air Canada announced that it would be piloting a third party resolution solution as well.
Air passengers’ rights advocate Gábor Lukács questioned if this would actually help, calling the move to outsource complaint resolution “a PR stunt.”
MacKinnon, however is confident in the changes. “We put in place a system that in hindsight was onerous, expensive, took too long.... We are going to change that system,” MacKinnon said. “If you are one of the 100,000 or so people involved in this backlog, help is on the way.”
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