Air Canada delay compensation: what you're owed and how to claim

Updated September 27, 2026 · Checked against the regulations as current to September 3, 2026 · By LandedLate

Air Canada owes $400, $700 or $1,000 per passenger, in cash, for a delay or cancellation within its control. The amount depends on how late you reach your final destination: 3 to 6 hours, 6 to 9 hours, or 9 hours or more. Nothing is owed if the cause was outside Air Canada's control or required for safety. Air Canada is a large airline under Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations, so it pays the higher amounts. You claim through Air Canada's online form within one year of the flight, and Air Canada then has 30 days to pay you or explain why not. These are the rules in force on September 27, 2026.

How much Air Canada owes

Air Canada, delay or cancellation within its control
You reached your destination	Per passenger
3 to 6 hours late	$400
6 to 9 hours late	$700
9 hours or more	$1,000
Less than 3 hours late	$0

Per passenger, section 19(1) of the regulations. Data as of September 27, 2026.

If Air Canada bumped you from a flight for a reason within its control, the amounts are higher: $900 if you arrived less than 6 hours late, $1,800 for 6 to 9 hours and $2,400 for 9 hours or more (section 20). If you took a refund instead of a new flight, you're still owed at least $400 when the cause was within Air Canada's control (section 19(2)).

When Air Canada has to pay, and when it doesn't

You're owed

The cause was within Air Canada's control (crew, scheduling, a plane swap, most mechanical problems it could have prevented), you arrived 3+ hours late, and for a cancellation you were told 14 days or less before departure.

Worth challenging

Air Canada says the problem was “required for safety” or gives a vague reason. The label alone doesn't settle it. Ask for the records behind it.

Not owed

A genuine cause outside Air Canada's control: weather that actually grounded flights, an air traffic control instruction, a security threat, or a strike or other labour disruption. You still get rebooking or a refund, but Air Canada doesn't have to pay for meals or a hotel.

How to claim from Air Canada

Find your ticket number. It has 13 digits, starts with 014, and is on your e-ticket receipt or booking confirmation.
Open Air Canada's claim form at sset.aircanada.com and enter the ticket number and your last name as it appears on the booking.
Don't stop at the eligibility check. The form tells you whether it thinks you're eligible, and you can still continue and submit your claim if it says you aren't.
Describe what happened and what you're claiming. LandedLate writes this text for you, sized for the form's description box, with the sections of the regulations that apply.
Keep a copy and note the date. Air Canada must pay or explain within 30 days of receiving your claim.

Write my Air Canada claim

Free. LandedLate takes no share of what Air Canada pays you.

Check “operated by” on your boarding pass: compensation duties sit with the airline that operated the flight.

What Air Canada says when it refuses, and how to answer it

A refusal doesn't settle it. When passengers took complaints all the way to a Canadian Transportation Agency decision between September 2023 and June 2024, airlines were ordered to pay compensation or a refund in 50% of the 9,740 cases resolved (agency data reported by CBC News).

If Air Canada says	How to answer it
“Crew constraints” or a crew shortage	Staffing is within the airline's control. In August 2022 the Canadian Transportation Agency ordered Air Canada to pay $1,000 each to two passengers after it blamed “crew constraints”: it ought to have known its first officer hadn't finished required training (Crawford v. Air Canada, 107-C-A-2022). The Federal Court of Appeal later upheld the test: the airline must show it had, and followed, a reasonable plan to replace crew (WestJet v. Lareau, 2025 FCA 149). More on crew shortages
“Required for safety” or unscheduled maintenance	The agency has found maintenance problems an airline caused itself to be within its control (Anslow v. Sunwing, 20-C-A-2023). Moving your scheduled plane to cover another plane's mechanical problem is the airline's own decision, so your cancellation is within its control (Lubky v. WestJet, 137-C-A-2022). Ask what failed, when it was found, and whether your plane was swapped.
Weather	Weather excuses payment only if it actually caused your disruption, and the airline has to show it. The agency rejected a weather defence backed only by undecoded weather reports and a list of other delays at the airport, and ordered $1,000 (Beauchamp v. WestJet, 68-C-A-2023). More on weather delays
A late incoming aircraft	A knock-on delay is treated like its original cause only if the airline took all reasonable steps to limit it. Moving your flight's crew to rescue another flight is the airline's own decision (Paridon v. Sunwing, 16-C-A-2022).
Air traffic control	A genuine air traffic control instruction is a real defence. Ask which instruction, when, and how it caused your specific delay.
“Here's a travel voucher”	You're entitled to money. A voucher only counts if it's worth at least as much, never expires, and you accept it in writing (section 21).

What else Air Canada owes you during the disruption

Care while you wait, if you were told less than 12 hours before departure: food and drink after 2 hours, a way to communicate, and a hotel plus transport if you're stuck overnight (section 14). This applies when the cause was within Air Canada's control, including safety-related problems, but not to causes outside its control such as weather (section 10(3)).
Rebooking or a refund after a delay of 3 hours or more or a cancellation. When the cause is within its control, Air Canada must offer the next available flight, its own or a partner's, that leaves within 9 hours of your original departure, and otherwise a flight on another airline within 48 hours (section 17).
Refunds of extras you didn't get, such as paid seat selection (section 18.1).
Expenses on international trips. If you were travelling internationally, you may also be able to claim expenses the delay caused under the Montreal or Warsaw Convention, on top of the fixed compensation. Claim from Air Canada in writing first; any court action has a 2-year time limit.

If Air Canada refuses or doesn't answer in 30 days

You can file a free complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency once you have written to Air Canada and either received its answer or waited 30 days. Expect a long wait. Reports in 2026 put the backlog near 98,000 complaints and the average resolution time near 987 days. A change to the complaints system (Bill C-31) is before Parliament but not yet law. LandedLate writes your reply to the refusal and prepares the answers for the agency's complaint form.

Questions

Is Air Canada compensation paid per person?

Yes. The amount is per passenger, so two people on the same booking delayed 6 to 9 hours by a cause within Air Canada's control are owed $700 each, $1,400 in total.

Can Air Canada give me a voucher or points instead of cash?

Only if you choose it. Under section 21 of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, compensation is paid in money unless Air Canada offers something of equal or greater value, tells you its cash value in writing, the offer doesn't expire, and you confirm in writing that you want it instead.

How long do I have to claim compensation from Air Canada?

One year from the day of the delay or cancellation (section 19(3)). Air Canada then has 30 days to pay you or explain why it won't (section 19(4)).

Does the delay count from departure or arrival?

Arrival. What matters is how late you reached the final destination on your ticket, including any connections and rebooked flights.

Do I get compensation for a 2-hour Air Canada delay?

No. Compensation starts when you reach your final destination 3 or more hours late. At 2 hours you're owed food and drink if Air Canada told you about the delay less than 12 hours before departure and the cause was within its control (section 14); not for causes such as weather.

What does Air Canada owe for a mechanical problem?

It depends on the cause. A fault that made the plane unsafe to fly is usually treated as required for safety, so no compensation, though you're still owed rebooking or a refund, and meals and a hotel if you were told less than 12 hours before departure (section 11). But the agency has found maintenance problems an airline caused itself to be within its control (Anslow v. Sunwing, 20-C-A-2023), and the Federal Court of Appeal has said a safety label only protects the airline if it took reasonable measures to avoid the problem (WestJet v. Lareau, 2025 FCA 149). Ask for the maintenance records.

What if Air Canada cancelled my flight more than two weeks ahead?

Then no compensation is owed for the cancellation, because the rules only pay when you were told 14 days or less before departure. You are still entitled to be rebooked or refunded.

Sources

General information, not legal advice.