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The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA; , OTC) is the independent, quasi-judicial
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of the
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that makes decisions relating to federally-regulated modes of transportation ( air, rail and marine). Its headquarters are in the Jules Léger Building (South) (''Édifice Jules Léger (Sud)'') in Terrasses de la Chaudière,
Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...
,
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. It is responsible for: *
Dispute resolution Dispute resolution or dispute settlement is the process of resolving disputes between parties. The term ''dispute resolution'' is '' conflict resolution'' through legal means. Prominent venues for dispute settlement in international law incl ...
: to resolve complaints about transportation services, fares, rates, and charges; * Accessibility: to ensure that the national transportation system is accessible, particularly to persons with disabilities; and *
Economic regulation Regulatory economics is the application of law by government or regulatory agencies for various economics-related purposes, including remedying market failure, protecting the environment and economic management. Regulation Regulation is gener ...
: to provide approvals and licences and to make decisions on matters involving federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation. The agency is divided into five branches: Chair's Office; Corporate Management Branch; Legal and Alternative Dispute Resolution Services Branch; Dispute Resolution Branch; Industry Regulation and Determinations Branch. The agency is headed by five full-time members, including the
chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
and
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, and the vice chairman.


History

The history of the Canadian Transportation Agency originates in February 1904 with the establishment of the Board of Railway Commissioners, an independent body with regulatory authority over railway, and later with jurisdiction over telegraphs, telephones, and express companies. The Board of Railway Commissioners was replaced by the Board of Transportation Commissioners through the ''Transport Act'' in 1938; this new agency held authority over inland waterways and airlines in addition to those jurisdictions inherited by the Board of Railway Commissioners. On 11 September 1944, amendments to the ''Transport Act'' provided for "the removal of commercial air services from the jurisdiction of the Board of Transport Commissioners." At the same time, the '' Aeronautics Act'' created a new Air Transport Board to provide licensing and regulatory functions. In 1967, ''National Transportation Act'' became law and established the Canadian Transport Commission (CTC)—absorbing most of the members and staff from the previous Board of Transport Commissioners, the Air Transport Board, and the Canadian Maritime Commission—with Jack Pickersgill as president. The CTC was given mandate over all modes of transportation in Canada, "with the object of co-ordinating and harmonizing the operations of all carriers engaged in transport by railways, water, aircraft, extra-provincial motor vehicle transport and commodity pipelines." In 1988, the new ''National Transportation Act'' overhauled the CTC and replaced it with the National Transportation Agency. On May 29, 1996, the ''Canada Transportation Act'',''Canada Transportation Act''
/ref> also known as Bill C-14 (formerly C-101), received
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...
and established the Canadian Transportation Agency, which began operations on July 2. Consumer responsibilities were expanded in 2000, when the post of Air Travel Complaints Commissioner was created under its stewardship. The first Air Travel Complaints Commissioner was Bruce Hood, a former veteran
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
referee. In 2020, the agency received 8000 complaints between March and September over airline policies to issue travel vouchers rather than refunds for passengers cancelling their flight bookings during the
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. The CTA posted on their website that airlines could issue travel vouchers instead of refunds, which caused Air Passenger Rights, an advocacy association, to file a lawsuit for CTA to remove this statement.


Legislation

The ''Canada Transportation Act'' is the Agency's enabling statute to implement the federal government's transportation policy. The Agency also shares responsibility for administering other Acts and their related regulations, including: * '' Accessible Canada Act, 2019'' *'' Canada Marine Act'' *'' Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012'' * ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act'' * ''Coasting Trade Act'' * ''Energy Supplies Emergency Act'' *''Pilotage Act'' *''Railway Relocation and Crossing Act'' * ''Railway Safety Act'' * ''Shipping Conferences Exemption Act, 1987''


Certificate of Fitness

The CTA is responsible for the issuance of a Certificate of Fitness for each federal railway. A board is required to evaluate details like insurance coverage, without which the railway cannot maintain its Certificate of Fitness.


References


External links

* Transport in Canada Federal departments and agencies of Canada Canadian transport law Organizations based in Gatineau {{Canada-gov-stub