Section 19 of Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations pays CAD 400, CAD 700 or CAD 1,000 from a large airline when you land three, six or nine hours late, and CAD 125, CAD 250 or CAD 500 from a small one. The airline owes it only if the cause was within its control and not required for safety — so the letter makes it say which.
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Today's date]
[Airline name] — Customer Relations / Claims
[Airline claims address or online claim form]
Re: Claim under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (SOR/2019-150)
Flight [Flight number]
Route [Departure airport] to [Final destination airport]
Date of flight [Flight date]
Booking reference [Booking reference]
Dear Sir or Madam,
I held a confirmed reservation on flight [Flight number] from
[Departure airport] to [Final destination airport] on [Flight date],
booking reference [Booking reference]. I presented myself for travel on
time.
The flight was [delayed / cancelled]. I reached my final destination
[Hours and minutes late] later than scheduled: arrival was booked for
[Scheduled arrival time] and I arrived at [Actual arrival time]. I was
notified on [Date you were told], which is [Days of notice] days before
the scheduled departure.
Section 19 of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations sets minimum
compensation for inconvenience by the length of that arrival delay when
the disruption was within your control and was not required for safety
purposes. On the delay above, the sum due to me is CAD [Amount].
Section 13 requires you to give me the reason for the delay or
cancellation. Please state, in writing: the reason; whether you place
this disruption within your control, within your control but required
for safety, or outside your control; and the facts you rely on. If you
rely on section 10 or section 11, please identify the paragraph.
Please pay CAD [Amount] to [Payment details]. Section 19(4) requires you
to provide the compensation or an explanation as to why it is not
payable within 30 days of receiving this request.
If I do not receive a payment or a reasoned answer within that period, I
will file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency.
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Your full name]
How to use it
- Measure the delay at your final destination, not at departure, and round down to whole hours.
- Take your figure from the APPR amounts table — large airline or small, and the 3, 6 or 9-hour band.
- Send it through the airline’s own claim form. Air Canada and WestJet both run one.
- Attach the booking confirmation, the boarding passes and any screenshot showing the actual arrival time.
- Put two dates in your calendar: 30 days for the reply, and the first anniversary of the flight.
The one-year clock is the one that kills the claim. Section 19(3) requires your request to reach the carrier “before the first anniversary of the day on which the flight delay or flight cancellation occurred”. A complaint sent to the Canadian Transportation Agency instead of to the airline does not stop that clock — write to the airline first, then escalate.
Why does the letter ask which category the disruption falls in?
Because it decides whether anything is payable. A disruption within the airline’s control pays compensation; one within its control but required for safety pays none; one outside its control pays none and drops the food-and-hotel duties as well. Section 13 obliges the airline to give you the reason, and a reason on paper is much harder to change later.
What if the airline says it was outside its control?
Check the answer against section 10(1). That list is open — it says “including but not limited to” — but it is specific, and a vague “operational reasons” is not on it. A labour disruption within the airline is on it, and the Canadian Transportation Agency confirms no compensation for inconvenience is due in that case, though rebooking or a refund survives. If the stated reason does not fit, escalate to the regulator with the airline’s own wording attached.
Can I claim under EU261 for the same flight?
Possibly, on a flight leaving an EU or UK airport. Section 3(3) of the APPR says you must not be refused compensation “on the grounds that they are also eligible for compensation for the same event under a different passenger rights regime”, so the two regimes do not cancel each other out. Lead with the one that pays more for your route and say clearly which you are claiming under.
How long does the airline have to pay?
Thirty days from receipt, under section 19(4) — to pay or to explain why it will not. Denied boarding is faster: section 20 requires payment “as soon as it is operationally feasible, but not later than 48 hours after the time of the denial of boarding”. If 30 days pass in silence, the CTA complaints portal is the next step, and it asks to see that you wrote to the airline and waited.