If your flight was delayed, cancelled, or you were bumped and the airline hasn't made it right, the official complaint process exists — but the backlog behind it means "official" doesn't mean fast.
What's Actually Happening
The Canadian Transportation Agency is sitting on a backlog of roughly 97,000 air travel complaints. January 2026 set a new record with 5,685 complaints filed in a single month. The federal transport minister has publicly committed to clearing the backlog and has increased fines airlines face for non-compliance — but none of that changes the wait for a complaint already in the queue.
The Required First Step
The CTA will not accept your complaint until you've given the airline itself a chance to resolve it first. That means:
- File directly with the airline through its own complaint process
- Give them a reasonable window to respond (their policy will state a timeframe)
- Only then does an unresolved complaint become eligible for the CTA
What This Means If You're Filing Now
Don't wait to document. Boarding passes, receipts for meals or hotels caused by the delay, and the airline's own written response all matter more the longer the file sits.
If it's purely a refund dispute and you paid by credit card, a chargeback can move faster than a CTA complaint — see our chargeback guide for how that process works and its own deadlines.
A CTA complaint is still worth filing even with the wait — it's the official record, and compensation under Air Passenger Protection Regulations is often owed regardless of how long the file takes to process.
Start your documented complaint now — the CTA backlog doesn't reset the clock on your case.
File With Asya Now →Sources & Verification
Figures in this article are drawn from CTA backlog reporting and government statements, including:
- CBC News — Airline complaints backlog at the CTA
- CP24 — Transport minister vows to clear 97,000 travel complaint backlog
Learn more about how ComplaintCA verifies information on our About page.