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An Ontario Superior Court judge has struck down a rule that blocks travellers from sharing the outcome of passenger complaints made to the country’s transport regulator.
The ruling Wednesday found that federal regulations barring travellers from disclosing the result of complaints on matters ranging from refunds to accessibility violate Canadians’ Charter right to freedom of expression.
The Canadian Transportation Agency’s complaint resolution process, in place since 2023, had prevented consumers and airlines from publicly disclosing such information unless both parties agreed to waive confidentiality.
Canada’s biggest airlines, including Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat, Jazz Aviation and the industry group that represents them, had opposed the court challenge.
In a January motion to intervene in the case, they argued complaint submissions include sensitive information that could undermine carriers’ commercial interests and create privacy risks for passengers and employees. They also claimed that safety could be compromised, as workers might think twice about disclosing problems that could result in more payouts to passengers. A judge dismissed the intervener request in March.
“Although we are reviewing the court’s decision, it is unfortunate that airlines were not granted leave to participate in this case, as their participation would have allowed the court to consider a fuller evidentiary record,” said Jeff Morrison, CEO of the National Airlines Council of Canada, in an emailed statement.
In his written decision this week, Justice Charles Hackland said there was no evidence that the confidentiality requirement is “necessary or required to achieve efficiency in the adjudication process or to prevent the release of confidential information,” contrary to the federal government’s position.
Hackland added the regulator is violating Canada’s open court principle when it enforces the confidentiality rule by refusing to release decisions or other complaint-related documents upon request, including to the media.
The government had argued that barring discussion of complaints formed a reasonable limit on freedom of expression.
Advocacy group Air Passenger Rights filed the constitutional challenge just over a year ago, arguing Canadians should have access to rulings by the quasi-judicial tribunal.
Gabor Lukacs, president of the group, had claimed the confidentiality rules amounted to a “gag order” that violates freedom of expression, accusing the airlines of not wanting “their dirty laundry in the open.”
He said in an interview Thursday that the ruling serves to empower customers who would no longer have to fear discussing the complaints process publicly.
Lukacs compared the complaints process to a “black box,” with tens of thousands of cases shrouded in mystery.
“Now we can actually say, ‘OK, was there any evidence to support what the airlines were saying?'” said Lukacs, adding only the airlines themselves had access to databases of rulings.
“What this is also going to create is a more level playing field. It’s not only airlines that have to know how those matters are being handled, but also passengers, and we who advocate for passengers.”
The issue over transparency in complaint rulings comes as those gripes continue to mount.
In his decision, Hackland noted the current backlog of complaints before the agency had recently approached 100,000, citing public statements from members of the federal cabinet.
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said in May that backlog was “unacceptable” as he announced a plan to eliminate it. He laid out an overhaul that would outsource the air passenger complaints process to a third party, which could “apply private sector know-how to settle” disputes.
“For too long, Canadians have been left waiting while complaints pile up and accountability falls short. That ends now,” he said in a statement at the time.
Ottawa had also vowed to remove the onus on passengers to maintain confidentiality in the complaints process in order to improve transparency.
MacKinnon further said the government would increase the Canadian Transportation Agency’s enforcement powers by allowing fines of up to $1 million for systemic violations of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations.
Under the proposed Liberal model, independent adjudicators resolve complaints over issues that include accessible travel and compensation for a cancelled flight.
More broadly, Ottawa aims to simplify the passenger rights charter “so that rules are clearer and passengers are fairly and more quickly compensated,” the government said in its spring economic update.
The move came three years after it announced reforms to the regulatory regime that have yet to take effect.
Met with skepticism by consumer rights advocates, the change also hints at mounting frustration with the existing framework, where cases can take years to conclude despite a staffing boost — more than 100 “complaint resolution officers” — over the past few years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2026.
Companies in this story: (TSX:AC, TSX:TRZ)
Sammy Hudes and Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
