Your flight out of Pearson is three hours late, or cancelled the night before. The airline hands you a meal voucher and a rebooking. Most people stop there. Many of them are owed up to $1,000 in cash, and never ask.
Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) set out what airlines owe you when things go wrong. They apply to every flight to, from or within Canada, on any airline, including connections. Here's what they say, in plain language, and how to actually get paid.
The short version
If your flight is delayed or cancelled for a reason within the airline's control, and it isn't a safety issue, you're owed cash based on how late you reach your final destination:
| You arrive this late | Large airline | Small airline |
|---|---|---|
| 3 to 6 hours | $400 | $125 |
| 6 to 9 hours | $700 | $250 |
| 9 hours or more | $1,000 | $500 |
A "large" airline is one that carried at least two million passengers in each of the previous two years. That covers Air Canada, WestJet, Porter, Air Transat and the big foreign airlines. If you cancel your trip and take a refund instead of a rebooking, you still get $400 from a large airline or $125 from a small one.
Everything depends on why it happened
The rules sort every delay and cancellation into three buckets, and what you're owed changes with each one:
- Within the airline's control. Crew shortages, overbooking, most routine maintenance, IT problems. You get compensation, food and a hotel if needed, and a rebooking.
- Within the airline's control, but required for safety. A mechanical problem found outside scheduled maintenance, which the pilot or safety rules say must be fixed before flying. You get food, a hotel if needed and a rebooking, but no compensation.
- Outside the airline's control. Weather that makes flying unsafe, air traffic control instructions, airport problems, security threats, medical emergencies, bird strikes, and labour disruptions, including strikes at the airline itself. You get a rebooking, or a refund if it can't get you there within 48 hours.
Airlines like the "safety" and "outside our control" labels, because both mean no cash. Don't take the label on faith. A delay caused by a problem with an earlier flight can still be within the airline's control. If the explanation sounds vague, ask for it in writing.
What you're owed while you wait
When the problem is within the airline's control, including safety issues, the airline has to look after you:
- After two hours of delay: food and drink in reasonable quantities, and a way to communicate, such as Wi-Fi.
- If you're stuck overnight: a hotel or similar room, and free transportation to and from it.
If the airline doesn't provide these and you pay yourself, keep every receipt and include them in your claim.
Getting rebooked
For problems within its control, a large airline has to put you on its own next available flight, or a partner's. If it can't get you out within nine hours of your original departure, it must book you with any airline, even a competitor, or route you through a nearby airport. If none of that works for you, you can ask for a refund instead, and it's due within 30 days.
For problems outside its control, the airline has to rebook you on a flight that leaves within 48 hours. If it can't, you can choose a refund to your original payment method, also within 30 days.
If you're bumped from an oversold flight
Being denied boarding because the airline sold too many seats pays the most. The airline must first ask for volunteers. If it bumps you anyway, it owes you, based on how late you arrive:
| You arrive this late | Compensation |
|---|---|
| Under 6 hours | $900 |
| 6 to 9 hours | $1,800 |
| 9 hours or more | $2,400 |
The airline has to pay this within 48 hours, and you don't need to file a claim first.
Stuck on the plane
If you're held on the tarmac at a Canadian airport, the airline has to provide working toilets, fresh air, food and drink. After three hours it must let you off, unless takeoff is likely within the next 45 minutes.
How to claim, step by step
- Get the reason in writing. Airlines have to tell you why a flight was delayed or cancelled. A screenshot of the app or an email is fine.
- Note when you actually arrived. Compensation is based on arrival at your final destination, not departure. The time the doors opened is your best evidence.
- Send the claim to the airline that operated the flight. Most have a form on their website. You have one year from the flight to claim.
- Wait up to 30 days. The airline must pay or explain why it won't within 30 days.
- Ask for money, not a voucher. Compensation is owed in cash. The airline can offer a voucher only if it's worth more, never expires, and you agree to it in writing.
- If the airline says no, complain to the Canadian Transportation Agency. Filing is free through the Agency's website. There's a backlog, so expect to wait, but airlines do get overruled.
You don't need a claims company. They typically keep a sizeable share of your payout for filling in the same form you can fill in yourself.
Flying to Europe? The EU rules can pay more
If your flight departs from an airport in the European Union, on any airline, or arrives in the EU on a European airline, the EU's own rules (known as EU261) also apply. On long flights like Europe to Toronto, arriving three or more hours late for a reason within the airline's control is worth up to €600. For a delay of between three and four hours, airlines can pay half. You can't collect twice for the same delay, but you can claim under whichever set of rules pays more.
The EU agreed on changes to these rules in 2026. They're expected to apply from mid-2027, and the compensation amounts stay the same.
Lost or damaged bags
Bags are covered by a separate international treaty, the Montreal Convention, which Canada applies to domestic flights too. The airline's liability is capped at 1,519 Special Drawing Rights, a currency unit set by the International Monetary Fund worth about US$2,000. Report the problem at the airport before you leave, then file in writing: within 7 days for damage, and, on international trips, within 21 days of getting a delayed bag back.
What's changing in Canada
In 2023, Parliament changed the law so that airlines would owe compensation for any disruption unless they could prove a clearly defined exceptional circumstance. That would end most arguments over the three buckets. The regulations to put it into effect were proposed in December 2024. As of September 2026, they haven't taken effect, and the rules above are the ones that apply.
Not legal advice. This is a plain-language summary of Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations as they stood in September 2026, and of the EU's rules for flights to and from Europe. Rules change and every case is different. Check the airline's tariff, or the Canadian Transportation Agency, before you rely on it.
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