Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Comité permanent des comptes publics

For immediate release

Ottawa, November 09, 2023 -

PARLIAMENT HILL – The Auditor General of Canada recommended in a 2023 investigation that VIA Rail, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) and the Canadian Transportation Agency must do a better job at eliminating preventable accessibility barriers faced by persons with disabilities who use federally regulated transportation. In 2019 and 2020, nearly two thirds of the 2.2 million persons with a disability who travelled on planes, trains, and other federally regulated modes of transportation faced a barrier. Existing approaches and federal oversight are falling short of the government’s commitment to achieve a barrier-free Canada by 2040.

The audit found that:

• VIA Rail and CATSA identified and addressed some barriers while others remained;

• CATSA also conducted an open consultation on its accessibility plan and developed training programs. However, to work toward barrier‑free travel, improvements are still needed in important areas such as online information accessibility;

• The Canadian Transportation Agency did not sufficiently contribute to identifying, removing, and preventing transportation barriers for persons with disabilities through its monitoring and enforcement activities of the new regulations.

A report by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts, presented today by Committee Chairman John Williamson, makes nine recommendations to ensure that the Auditor General’s findings are adequately addressed, and that VIA Rail, CATSA and the Canadian Transportation Agency provide evidence of this to the Committee through progress reports.