Acts and regulations

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator that has, with respect to all matters necessary for the exercise of its jurisdiction, all the powers of a superior court. It oversees the very large and complex Canadian transportation system, which is essential to the economic and social well-being of Canadians.

Our three mandates are:

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

What are we doing?

As a federal agency, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) is responsible for administering acts and regulations, and for implementing government-wide regulatory initiatives:

Acts and regulations

The CTA is responsible for administering certain federal acts and regulations.

View the List of Acts and Regulations.

Planned or anticipated changes to regulations

The CTA publishes a public list, with descriptions, of planned or anticipated federal regulatory changes that the CTA intends to bring forward over a 24-month period.

View the Forward Regulatory Plan.

CTA participated in the Targeted Regulatory Reviews focused on the transport and infrastructure sectors to identify and address regulatory barriers to economic growth and innovation.

View the Transportation Sector Regulatory Review Roadmap published by Transport Canada.

Timeliness service standards and performance information

The CTA publishes Timeliness Service Standards and Performance Information for its services, including services for regulated parties to obtain regulatory authorization, such as a permit or licence, to engage in a regulated activity.

How guidance on regulatory requirements is provided

The CTA’s Policy on Providing Guidance on Regulatory Requirements:

  • outlines the commitments, practices and tools that the CTA applies when providing Canadians and businesses with information and guidance on regulatory obligations to be met
  • identifies the conditions under which written responses to questions will be provided

Number of administrative burden requirements in regulations

The Administrative Burden Baseline initiative requires departments and agencies to:

  • establish a baseline count of federal regulatory requirements that impose an administrative burden on business
  • annually update and report publicly on the count of baseline requirements

The Administrative Burden Baseline Count and Annual Updates lists the number of administrative burden requirements in regulations administered by the CTA.

Other regulatory information

The CTA is undertaking a Regulatory Modernization Initiative, which includes a review of regulations it administers and various guidance material and tools to ensure that they keep pace with changes in business models, user expectations and best practices in the regulatory field.

All of the government's Acts and Regulations can be found on the Justice Laws Website.

Consult the following for links to the Cabinet Directive on Regulation and supporting policies and guidance, and for information on government-wide regulatory initiatives implemented by departments and agencies across the Government of Canada:

To learn about upcoming or ongoing consultations on proposed federal regulations, visit:

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