- Parties: The applicant was Air Passenger Rights. The respondent was the Attorney General of Canada. The intervenor was the Canadian Transportation Agency.

- Subject Matter: On or about Mar. 25, 2020, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) published a statement on vouchers, to which the CTA’s webpage titled “Important Information for Travellers During COVID-19” referred. The statement responded to the mass cancellation of domestic and international flights during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The applicant argued that the statement and webpage violated the CTA’s Code of Conduct, amounted to reasonable apprehension of bias, and advanced the improper purpose of assisting airlines by stifling the surge in credit card chargebacks that they were facing at the time.

- Ruling: The appeal court ruled in the respondent’s favour and dismissed the application. The statement was not amenable to judicial review because it did not affect legal rights, impose legal obligations, or cause prejudicial effects, the appeal court said. Instead, the statement contained only non-binding guidance and expressly reserved the rights of air travel passengers to submit to the CTA claims that would be individually examined on their merits, the appeal court explained.

- Date: The hearing was set on Apr. 17, 2024. The court released its decision on Aug. 12, 2024.

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court of Appeal.

- Amount: The appeal court awarded the respondent costs in the amount of $3,000, inclusive of all disbursements and taxes.