On December 15, 2011, amendments to the Canada Transportation Act that permit the government to issue regulations with respect to the advertising of airfares came into force. The amendments require the creation of new regulations to apply to airfare advertising in all media, including the Internet. Following the coming into force of the amendments, Transport Canada issued a press release stating that the Canadian Transportation Agency would develop regulations for airfare advertising.

Draft regulations are not yet available. However, the amendments to the Act require the eventual regulations to specify that air carriers who advertise a price must include in that price all costs, fees, charges and taxes collected by the carrier, whether charged by the carrier or collected by the carrier on behalf of another person. The disclosure will be required to be sufficient to permit the purchaser to readily determine the total amount that he/she will be required to pay for the service.

While it is not possible to give a precise timeline for the coming into force of the anticipated regulations, Transport Canada estimates that the regulatory process will take one year.

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