Program directory · Canadian Transportation Agency
Dispute Resolution
- Department
- Canadian Transportation Agency
- Program code
- BTT02 (CTA)
- Core responsibility
- Independent regulatory and dispute-resolution services for transportation providers and users
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Dispute Resolution program provides dispute resolution services, upon application, for air, rail, marine and accessibility disputes within the Agency's jurisdiction. It does this using a range of approaches from relatively informal facilitation and mediation to more formal arbitration and adjudication.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dispute Resolution | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $116M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Employees (FTEs) 137, against 108 in 2019-20 (+27%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Employees (FTEs) 184, against 112 in 2022-23 (+64%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending $24.2M, against $13.3M in 2022-23 (+81%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned employees (FTEs) 123, against 218 in 2025-26 (−44%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $16.1M, against $24.6M in 2025-26 (−35%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Percentage of accessibility disputes resolved within service standards
Expected result: Timely and effective facilitation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration for air, rail, marine and accessibility disputes
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 80% | 2019 | 79% As the target was only missed by 1%, additional explanations are not being provided | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 80% | 2020 | 84% | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 80% | 2021 | 82% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 80% | 2022 | 75% A minor variance from service standard objectives was observed during the reporting period. This is attributed primarily to the participation of parties whose availability during the pandemic was reduced. It is also attributable to the complexity of certain accessibility disputes which required elevated levels of effort from parties, expert participation and extended pleadings. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 80% | 2023 | 91% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 80% | 2024 | 84% | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 80% | 2025 | 82% | Met |
Percentage of air consumer protection disputes resolved within service standards
Expected result: Timely and effective facilitation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration for air, rail, marine and accessibility disputes
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 85% | 2019 | 29% Air consumer disputes were resolved within service standards at a rate of 29% which is less than the target of 85%. An unprecedented volume of air travel complaints resulted in a pressure on CTA's existing budget and a higher volume of complaints being resolved outside of service standards. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 85% | 2020 | 50% Air consumer disputes were resolved within service standards at a rate of 50% which is less than the target of 85%. An unprecedented volume of air travel complaints resulted in a pressure on CTA's existing budget and a higher volume of complaints being resolved outside of service standards. | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 85% | 2021 | 33% Air consumer disputes were resolved within service standards at a rate of 33%, which is less than the target of 85%. An unprecedented volume of air travel complaints resulted in pressure on the CTA's existing budget and a higher volume of complaints being resolved outside of service standards. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 85% | 2022 | 28% In 2021-2022, air consumer disputes were resolved within service standards at a rate of 28%, which is less than the target of 85%. An unprecedented volume of air travel complaints continues to put pressure on the Agency's existing budget, and a higher volume of complaints being resolved outside of service standards. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 85% | 2023 | 0% The Agency continued to have a large backlog of complaints over the past year. Of the approximately 52,000 active complaints currently filed with the Agency, over 40,000 were received within the last year. This high demand for the Agency's dispute resolution services stems primarily from: a) air travel disruptions during the summer of 2022, which resulted in a high number of flight cancellations… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 85% | 2024 | — During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, and as a result of the Budget Implementation Act (BIA), the Agency implemented a new streamlined complaints process which launched officially on September 30, 2023. The Agency will amend its departmental results framework over the coming year to reflect the changes. The enabling legislation requires that complaints processed under the new Complaints Resolution Of… | No result reported |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 85% | 2025 | Not available As a result of Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1 (BIA), the Agency implemented a new streamlined complaints process which launched halfway through 2023-24. To date, the Agency has not revised its service standards to reflect the new process – therefore, from 2023-24 and onwards, it is reporting a result of “not available” under this indicator. The Agency is working to amend its departmental… | No result reported |
Percentage of rail and marine disputes resolved within service standards
Expected result: Timely and effective facilitation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration for air, rail, marine and accessibility disputes
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 85% | 2019 | 56% Rail and marine disputes were resolved within service standards at a rate of 56% which is less than the target of 85%. An unprecedented volume of air travel complaints resulted in a pressure on CTA's existing budget and a higher volume of complaints being resolved outside of service standards. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 85% | 2020 | 88% | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 85% | 2021 | 66% o Stemming from the pandemic, there have been widespread and well-documented global supply chain disruptions o Canadian rail carriers play a pivotal role in Canada’s domestic and international shipping of a variety of goods and commodities, and were significantly impacted by global supply chain disruptions; o This impacted a wide range of rail carrier operations, logistics, labour supply and rela… | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 85% | 2022 | — As a result of COVID-19, the Agency was not able to undertake the compliance monitoring activities required to gather adequate data for this indicator. The Agency has updated its compliance and enforcement activities and is in the process of pursuing potential changes to the methodology for this indicator because it no longer reflects the intended outcome of the program. | No result reported |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 85% | 2023 | 40% In the past few years the Agency has not been able to collect and consequently report on the data for some of its performance indicators. This is in part a result of compliance monitoring and enforcement activities being targeted based on risk. This results in the data collected for these indicators no longer providing a representative sample of the industry. As such, beginning in 2023-24, the Ag… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 85% | 2024 | — The Canadian Transportation Agency has updated their processes and need to revisit these indicators. | No result reported |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 85% | 2025 | 62% This target was not met, however the Canadian Transportation Agency is continuously assessing its processes in an effort to meet the target in the future. | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Percentage of accessibility disputes resolved within service standards
Expected result: Timely and effective facilitation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration for air, rail, marine and accessibility disputes
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 80% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Percentage of air consumer protection disputes resolved within service standards
Expected result: Timely and effective facilitation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration for air, rail, marine and accessibility disputes
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 100% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Percentage of rail and marine disputes resolved within service standards
Expected result: Timely and effective facilitation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration for air, rail, marine and accessibility disputes
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 80% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $7.3M | $10.3M |
| 2019-20 | $8.1M | $11.4M |
| 2020-21 | $10.6M | $14.3M |
| 2021-22 | $9.9M | $14.1M |
| 2022-23 | $9.2M | $13.3M |
| 2023-24 | $14.1M | $24.2M |
| 2024-25 | $25.2M | $28.8M |
| 2025-26 | $24.6M | — |
| 2026-27 | $16.1M | — |
| 2027-28 | $16.1M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $16.1M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 55 | 91 |
| 2019-20 | 69 | 108 |
| 2020-21 | 88 | 137 |
| 2021-22 | 67 | 123 |
| 2022-23 | 75 | 112 |
| 2023-24 | 117 | 184 |
| 2024-25 | 221 | 213 |
| 2025-26 | 218 | — |
| 2026-27 | 123 | — |
| 2027-28 | 123* | — |
| 2028-29 | 123* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $7,313,507 | $7,251,880 | $7,251,880 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $8,077,789 | $7,086,952 | $6,813,768 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $10,554,614 | $9,336,260 | $9,048,961 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $9,933,834 | $9,186,780 | $9,186,780 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $9,163,288 | $9,149,787 | $9,149,787 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $14,097,000 | $14,097,000 | $14,097,000 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $25,176,025 | $24,978,551 | $14,994,280 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $24,601,652 | $14,898,897 | $14,916,059 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $16,083,371 | $16,100,953 | $16,082,554 | ||||||||
| Actual | $10,271,286 | $11,396,956 | $14,331,426 | $14,103,798 | $13,308,981 | $24,152,270 | $28,844,517 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
