The Canadian Transportation Agency releases its 2016-2017 Annual Report and At the Heart of Transportation: A Moving History

The Canadian Transportation Agency released its 2016-2017 Annual Report and a historical overview of the Agency At the Heart of Transportation: A Moving History, today.

The Annual Report summarizes activities related to the Agency's three core mandates:

• To help ensure that the national transportation system runs efficiently and smoothly in the interests of all Canadians; including those who work and invest in it; the producers, shippers, travellers and businesses who rely on it; and the communities where it operates.
• To protect the human right of persons with disabilities to an accessible transportation network.
• To provide consumer protection for air passengers.

Among the highlights, the Agency:

• Launched its Regulatory Modernization Initiative (RMI), a multi-phased review of all the regulations, guidelines and tools that it administers – with a focus on accessible transportation and air licensing and permits in its first year.
• Implemented a public awareness campaign to inform travellers about their rights and responsibilities. This resulted in both a significant surge of complaints received from air passengers – an increase of over 300% from 2015-2016 and complaints from travellers with disabilities resolved - 50% more than during the previous year.
• Established its 2017-2020 Strategic Priorities: a modern framework, excellence in service delivery, public and stakeholder awareness, and a healthy and high-performing organization.

In its Annual Report, the Agency also assesses the operation of the Canada Transportation Act and any difficulties encountered in administering it. This year, the Agency identified six specific actions that would help it deliver its responsibilities effectively and efficiently.

At the Heart of Transportation: A Moving History was originally released on the occasion of the Agency's centenary in 2004 and has been fully updated to mark Canada's 150th anniversary. At the Heart describes the integral role the Agency has played over 113 years in helping to foster a competitive, efficient, accessible national transportation system, as that system and Canadian society as a whole have evolved.

About the Agency

The Canadian Transportation Agency is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator with the powers of a superior court. The Agency has three core mandates: keeping the national transportation system running efficiently and smoothly, protecting the human right of persons with disabilities to an accessible transportation network and providing consumer protection for air passengers. To help advance these mandates, the Agency makes ground rules that establish the rights and responsibilities of transportation service providers and users and level the playing field among competitors. It also 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 Agency can help them.

www.otc-cta.gc.ca