AODA Alliance
ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT ALLIANCE
NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In the Impending Federal Election, Which Political Parties Will Promise Strong Action to Prevent More Horrific Mistreatment of Air Passengers with Disabilities that a House of Commons Report Recommended?
March 19, 2025 Toronto: What will the federal parties commit to do to prevent Canada’s airlines from exposing air passengers with disabilities with yet more horrific mistreatment when they travel? Amidst the blizzard of headlines about Donald Trump’s absurd tariff war with Canada, it is important not to lose sight of other pressing federal issues like this. This is especially so with a federal election required this year, and possibly being called in the next few days.
The media has reported on incident after incident where Canadian airlines subjected passengers with disabilities to horrible treatment. It is commendable that last fall, a Standing Committee of the House of Commons held public hearings. It heard testimony from witnesses from the disability community, from Canadian airlines and from federal air travel regulators. Among those was AODA Alliance Chair, David Lepofsky, who gave evidence one year ago today, on March 19, 2024. Watch a video of his evidence on YouTube.
Last December the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities submitted an excellent comprehensive report to Parliament entitled. “Towards Accessible Air Transportation in Canada.” Please download that report in MS Word format from the AODA Alliance website.
We need the federal parties to commit to implement that report’s excellent recommendations, set out below, both those adopted by the entire committee, and those additional ones that individual parties proposed. These recommendations are a good step forward. We will have more to propose in the coming days when we unveil our request for comprehensive disability election pledges from the parties.
The Standing Committee report did not dispute the existence of this recurring problem. It commendably recognized that the recurring mistreatment of air passengers with disabilities must end, and that current federal action on this score has been insufficient. The report repeatedly quoted and relied upon AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky ‘s evidence, as well as that of others from the disability community.
Its recommendations demand much more of the regulators who oversee airlines, of airports and of airlines themselves in how they treat passengers with disabilities and their mobility equipment, such as wheelchairs.
“There appears to be all-party recognition of this problem and a consensus on many of the steps needed to fix it,” said David Lepofsky, chair of the non-partisan AODA Alliance. “The 2019 Accessibility Canada Act was supposed to achieve a barrier-free Canada in areas like air travel by 2040, but after six years on the books, we have seen no real improvement and far too many incidents of horrific mistreatment of air passengers with disabilities.”
Contact: AODA Alliance Chair, David Lepofsky: aodafeedback@gmail.com
Twitter: @aodaalliance
For more background
The December 2024 Report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport.
The March 19, 2024 House of Commons testimony by AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky.
The March 18, 2024, AODA Alliance brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport.
The AODA Alliance website’s transportation page, which documents its advocacy on transportation disability barriers at all levels of government.
December 2024 Report of House of Commons Standing Committee on Transportation — Summary of Recommendations
Recommendation 1: That the Government of Canada officially recognize the overwhelming and
systemic nature of inaccessibility for persons with disabilities in the Canadian air travel sector.
Recommendation 2: That the Government of Canada direct the Canadian Transportation Agency to require airports to establish easily-accessible check-in desks at their entrances that provide curbside assistance to air passengers with disabilities regardless of which air carriers they are using.
Recommendation 3: That the Government of Canada ensure airports and air carriers make their online content more accessible to passengers with disabilities.
Recommendation 4: That the Government of Canada require airports and air carriers to use various communication formats (sign language, braille, electronic, telephone, audio, signage, visual, paper, etc.) to reach passengers with disabilities.
Recommendation 5: That the Canadian Transportation Agency ensure that air carriers directly alert, via several accessibility means of communication throughout the booking and travel process, the services that they offer to persons with disabilities, announcements regarding health and safety, changes to flights, available dispute resolution services, and how to access those services.
Recommendation 6: That the Government of Canada direct the Canadian Transportation Agency to require air carriers and airports to (a) establish accessible hotlines by which passengers with disabilities can relay complaints, make requests, seek immediate help, and ask questions; and (b) submit to the regulator aggregated reports on issues passengers identify via such hotlines.
Recommendation 7: That the Government of Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency
develop standardized practices for the handling and storage of all types of accessibility devices and that air carriers be required to store and pack the accessibility devices of passengers with disabilities in a manner that prevents them from being damaged.
Recommendation 8: That the Government of Canada require air carriers to repair or replace, at their cost, any accessibility device that is lost or damaged, as soon as possible.
Recommendation 9: That, with regard to accessibility in commercial aircraft, Transport Canada develop standards for passengers with disabilities, such as
- that their wheelchairs be able to enter and be appropriately and safely positioned and locked in place for the duration of the trip;
- that washrooms be adapted to passengers with disabilities;
- that call buttons be within reach of passengers with disabilities;
- that braille signage be available on board; and
- that change tables be large enough to accommodate infants and toddlers.
Recommendation 10: That the Government of Canada direct the Canadian Transportation Agency to (a) establish working groups to identify physical barriers on aircraft and inform regulatory standards for aircraft design; (b) ensure these groups include representatives from air carriers, aircraft manufacturers, air carriers staff, accessibility device manufacturers, and persons with disabilities, including those who use accessibility devices; and (c) commit to making aircraft accessible by establishing clear plans to remove barriers identified by the working groups.
Recommendation 11: That the Government of Canada require that air carriers ensure trained
employees help passengers with disabilities safely board, find their seat and move between their accessibility device and their seat.
Recommendation 12: That air carriers, specifically national air carriers that operate in Canada, train employees on accessibility needs on a regular basis, at least once in a 12- month period.
Recommendation 13: That the Government of Canada introduce an Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights, as exists in other jurisdictions such as the United States, to codify the rights and treatment due to persons with disabilities travelling by air in Canada.
Recommendation 14: That the Government of Canada hold true to its promise of “nothing about us without us” by engaging in meaningful consultation with persons with disabilities prior to developing legislation, regulations, guidelines or policies that affect persons with disabilities.
Recommendation 15: That the Government of Canada require all parties operating within the air travel sector, including air carriers, airports and CATSA, to regularly engage in meaningful consultation with a diverse panel of persons with disabilities to (i) identify, rectify and prevent barriers; and (ii) develop and implement improved employee and executive training programs.
Recommendation 16: That the Government of Canada develop standard requirements for the contents of accessibility plans created by all parties in the air travel sector, including air carriers, airports, and CATSA.
Recommendation 17: That the Government of Canada require airports to develop a consistent complaints reporting process, and require that complaints received via this process be reported to the Canadian Transportation Agency.
Recommendation 18: That the regulator develop a standardized and accessible complaints system specifically for accessibility-related complaints, separate from the existing complaints mechanism for all air passenger complaints. This system should ensure that when making a complaint, a passenger is able to reach a readily available contact who has knowledge of accessibility and human rights topics.
Recommendation 19: That the Government of Canada require that air carriers set up a complaint handling process that uses an easily accessible means of communication and that is managed by individuals who have received accessibility and human rights training.
Recommendation 20: That the Government of Canada require air carriers to report all complaints they receive to the Canadian Transportation Agency, in the same way air carriers operating in the United States are required to report complaints to the Federal Aviation Authority, and that an aggregated report of the data obtained from these reports be made available to the public.
Recommendation 21: That the Government of Canada require the public agency that regulates air carriers’ disability accessibility to periodically conduct unannounced inspections (including “secret shopper” audits) of the supports and services that air carriers provide to air passengers with disabilities, and make the results and findings thereof publicly available.
Recommendation 22: That the Canadian Transportation Agency strengthen its oversight of air service providers’ compliance with the requirements of the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations and that it impose deterrent monetary penalties in cases of non-compliance.
Recommendation 23: That the Government of Canada work toward the prohibition of requiring medical documentation to access accommodations, unless deemed necessary for safety purposes.
Bloc Québécois Supplementary Recommendations
Recommendation 1: That the government impose the “one person, one fare” rule on all flights departing from and heading to Quebec and Canada.
Recommendation 2: That the government require airport authorities to have a single person responsible for assisting a passenger with a disability from the moment they enter the terminal until they board the plane and vice versa from the moment they leave the plane until they exit the terminal.
NDP Supplementary Recommendations
Recommendation 1: That the Government of Canada introduce legislation extending the application of human rights law to accessibility equipment, making clear that the harm to a person’s accessibility equipment is a human rights violation.
Recommendation 2: That the Government of Canada immediately extend the one-person-one-fare rule to international flights departing and entering Canada.
Recommendation 3: That the Government of Canada prohibit requiring medical documentation to access accommodations, unless deemed necessary for safety purposes.
Recommendation 4: That the Canadian Transportation Agency work with air carriers, airport operators and persons with disabilities towards requiring that a single employee, trained to work with passengers with disabilities, assists each person with a disability from the time they arrive at the airport until they board the aircraft and from when they disembark until they leave the airport.
Recommendation 5: That the Government of Canada require airlines and airports to (a) install and maintain video systems to monitor the handling of accessibility devices at all times when they are not in their owner’s possession; and (b) require video therefrom be automatically shared with both the passenger and regulator in the event of damage or loss.
Recommendation 6: That the Government of Canada require airlines to provide mandatory disability training for airline executive employees and their board members to assist in changing ableist cultures.
Recommendation 7: That the Government of Canada compensate persons with disabilities for consultation services, and require all parties operating in the airline sector, including airlines, airports and CATSA to compensate persons with disabilities for consultations.
Recommendation 8: That the Government of Canada mandate Aircraft Rescue Firefighting services at all Canadian airports with commercial air traffic to ensure comprehensive emergency response capabilities; that these services align with the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, including response time standards, accredited ARFF training for personnel; and that the government provide adequate resources to fulfil these standards.