Canadian North delay compensation: what you're owed and how to claim

Updated October 18, 2026 · Checked against the regulations as current to September 30, 2026 · By LandedLate

Canadian North is a small airline under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, so it owes $125, $250 or $500 per passenger for a delay or cancellation within its control. The amount depends on how late you reach your destination: 3 to 6 hours, 6 to 9 hours, or 9 hours or more. If you were bumped from a flight, the full $900 to $2,400 applies. You claim on Canadian North's online claim form, before the first anniversary of the delay or cancellation, and it has 30 days to pay or explain why not (section 19).

Whether your own flight qualifies depends on its details: the reason the airline gave, how late you reached your destination and how much notice you had. Check it free at landedlate.ca/check.

How much Canadian North owes

Canadian North, delay or cancellation within its control
You reached your destination	Per passenger
3 to 6 hours late	$125
6 to 9 hours late	$250
9 hours or more	$500
Less than 3 hours late	$0

Per passenger, section 19(1)(b), the small-carrier amounts; these are the amounts Canadian North lists. Data as of October 18, 2026.

Bumped from a flight for a reason within its control? $900 if you arrived less than 6 hours late, $1,800 for 6 to 9 hours, $2,400 for 9 hours or more (section 20). For a delay or cancellation within its control (not for safety) that you were told about 14 days or less ahead, if you took a refund because the new flight didn't meet your needs, you're owed $125 (section 19(2)). Every amount in one chart

When Canadian North has to pay, and when it doesn't

You're owed

The cause was within its control and not for safety, such as planned maintenance or using your aircraft for another flight, you arrived 3+ hours late, and you were told 14 days or less before departure (section 12).

Worth challenging

Canadian North cites weather, a weight or payload limit, or a safety problem without detail. Ask for the specific cause and the evidence.

Not owed

Weather that made flying unsafe, an air traffic control instruction or a security threat. You still get a new flight within 48 hours; if it can't, your choice of a refund or its own or a partner's next flight (section 18).

How to claim from Canadian North

Open the claim form at canadiannorth.com/contact and tick “Compensation for Inconvenience”. If you paid for your own meals, hotel or transport, also tick “Expenses relating to Standards of Treatment” and attach receipts.
Enter your reservation code, ticket number, flight number and date, then a brief summary of what happened and how late you arrived.
Claim before the first anniversary of the delay or cancellation (section 19(3)). Customer relations also takes email at customerrelations@canadiannorth.com.
Note the date. Canadian North has 30 days to pay or explain. If it hasn't paid

Write my Canadian North claim

Free. LandedLate takes no share of what Canadian North pays you.

Flying in the North: what's different

Weather and payload. Canadian North treats “snowstorms, high winds, icing conditions” and “weather conditions that limit our weight or payload capacity” as outside its control. The regulations excuse weather only when it makes flying the flight unsafe, so the details matter.
Maintenance. It treats unplanned maintenance as required for safety, which pays no compensation, and planned maintenance as within its control, which does. The agency's guide draws a similar line: a fault found in pre-flight checks is generally within the airline's control but required for safety, while issues found during scheduled maintenance are within its control.
Meals and hotels can be thin on the ground. Canadian North says food, accommodation and transportation “may be limited” in remote communities and that it “will make every reasonable effort”. If you pay yourself, it says you can claim reasonable expenses with proof.
Its own letter says it has paid on weather and safety cases. In its submission to the agency, Canadian North wrote that it has been instructed to issue compensation on complaints about weather and safety-related disruptions. A refusal on those grounds is worth challenging.

If Canadian North refuses or doesn't answer

Write back once and ask for the specific cause and the evidence; the airline has to prove it in a complaint (Canada Transportation Act, section 85.07(2)). You can file a free complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency 30 days after your claim, or once it's refused. Expect a long wait: the agency says it may take more than 24 months before an officer reviews a complaint. Answering a refusal · How to file with the agency

Questions

Why does Canadian North pay less than Air Canada or WestJet?

The regulations set lower amounts for small carriers, those that carried fewer than 2 million passengers worldwide in each of the two previous years (sections 1 and 19). Canadian North says it is a small carrier, so it owes $125, $250 or $500 per passenger instead of $400, $700 or $1,000.

I was bumped from a Canadian North flight. How much am I owed?

The full amount: $900 if you arrived less than 6 hours late, $1,800 for 6 to 9 hours, $2,400 for 9 hours or more, when the reason was within the airline's control (section 20). Bumping compensation isn't reduced for small airlines, and Canadian North lists these amounts itself.

My flight was cancelled for weather. Am I owed anything?

No compensation, and no meals or hotel under the regulations, if weather genuinely made the flight unsafe (section 10). You're still owed a new flight within 48 hours on Canadian North or a partner, or a refund if it can't (section 18). Ask what the weather was and where: the airline has to prove the cause in a complaint (Canada Transportation Act, section 85.07(2)).

Will Canadian North put me on another airline?

Only an airline it has a commercial agreement with. Small carriers aren't required to buy you a seat on any other airline (sections 17(1)(b) and 18(1.1)(b)).

How long does Canadian North have to answer my claim?

30 days. Canadian North says it "must provide a response to your claim within 30 days of the date of submission", which matches the legal deadline to pay or explain why not (section 19(4)).

Sources

General information, not legal advice.