Canadian Transportation Agency orders the Greater Toronto Airport Authority to assess the effectiveness of its accessibility-related assistance for people who are visually impaired

February 14, 2018 – Gatineau, QC – Canadian Transportation Agency

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) today issued a determination, which orders the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) to convene consultations to assess the effectiveness of current arrangements for the provision of accessibility-related assistance for people who are visually impaired.

By March 28, the GTAA is required to:

  • file a report outlining the results of the consultations;
  • submit, for approval, a description of the appropriate measures to be implemented at the Pearson Airport, the date of their implementation, and how the GTAA will ensure that these are monitored.

As the GTAA did not comply with the CTA's initial order of November 2017, to convene consultations to assess the effectiveness of current arrangements and file a report, the CTA will, in due course, open pleadings on the possibility of awarding costs to the complainant.

Background

This determination stems from a complaint relating to an incident the applicant experienced at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. On November 22, 2017, the CTA determined that the applicant is a person with a disability and that she had encountered an obstacle to her mobility. However, the CTA decided to stay its consideration of whether the obstacle can be removed without causing undue hardship to the respondent, pending the completion of its Regulatory Modernization Initiative. This is a major initiative to modernize all the regulations, codes, and guidelines it administers, starting with those in the area of accessible transportation.

About the CTA

The Canadian Transportation Agency is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator which has, with respect to all matters necessary for the exercise of its jurisdiction, all the powers of a superior court. The CTA has three core mandates: helping to keep the national transportation system running efficiently and smoothly, protecting the fundamental right of persons with disabilities to accessible transportation services, and providing consumer protection for air passengers. To help advance these mandates, the CTA makes and enforces ground rules that establish the rights and responsibilities of transportation service providers and users and level the playing field among competitors, resolves disputes using a range of tools from facilitation and mediation to arbitration and adjudication, and ensures that transportation providers and users are aware of their rights and responsibilities and how the CTA can help them.

www.otc-cta.gc.ca

Contacts

Media Relations
Canadian Transportation Agency
media@otc-cta.gc.ca
819-934-3448
Follow us: Facebook / Twitter / YouTube

Date modified: