Flight cancelled in Canada: what you're owed, and whether to take the refund

Updated October 1, 2026 · Checked against the regulations as current to September 21, 2026 · By LandedLate

When an airline cancels your flight for a reason within its control and tells you 14 days or less before departure, a large airline such as Air Canada or WestJet owes you $400, $700 or $1,000 per passenger if you reach your destination 3 or more hours late. The amount depends on how late the replacement flight gets you there: 3 to 6 hours, 6 to 9 hours, or 9 hours or more. If the new flight doesn't suit you and you take a refund instead, the minimum is $400. A small airline owes $125 to $500. Cancellations for safety reasons or for causes outside the airline's control, such as weather, pay no compensation, but you're still owed a new flight, or a refund in the cases set out below. Rules as of October 1, 2026, under Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations.

When you were told decides what you're owed

Compensation depends on being told 14 days or less before departure, and meals and a hotel on being told less than 12 hours before. The cause then puts the cancellation in one of three categories (sections 10, 11 and 12).

What a cancelled flight entitles you to, by when you were told and why it was cancelled
You were told	Within the airline's control	Within its control, required for safety	Outside its control
More than 14 days before departure	A new flight or a refund. No compensation.	A new flight or a refund.	A new flight within 48 hours, or your choice of a refund if the airline can't manage that.
14 days or less before departure	A new flight or a refund, plus compensation: $400 to $1,000 by how late you arrive, or $400 if you take the refund.	A new flight or a refund. No compensation.	A new flight within 48 hours, or your choice of a refund if the airline can't manage that. No compensation.
Less than 12 hours before departure, or at the airport	All of the above, plus food and drink once you've waited 2 hours, and a hotel if you're stuck overnight.	A new flight or a refund, plus food and drink after 2 hours and a hotel overnight.	A new flight or a refund, as above. No meals or hotel are owed.

Amounts are for a large airline (two million or more passengers worldwide in each of the past two calendar years). See every amount the rules set, including small airlines.

Refund or new flight: which pays more?

If the new flight the airline offers doesn't suit your travel needs, you can take a refund instead (section 17(2)), and that changes the money. Compensation for a cancellation is measured the same way as for a delay: by how late you reach the destination on your original ticket (section 19(1)). A refund ends the trip, so the rules set a flat minimum instead (section 19(2)).

Large airline, cancellation within its control, told 14 days or less before departure
What you choose	Per passenger
New flight, arrive under 3 hours late	$0
New flight, arrive 3 to 6 hours late	$400
New flight, arrive 6 to 9 hours late	$700
New flight, arrive 9 or more hours late	$1,000
Refund instead (ticket money back within 30 days)	$400
Small airline: new flight 3+ hours late	$125 to $500
Small airline: refund instead	$125

If you still want to go, take the new flight. If it lands you 6 or more hours late, it pays more than the refund minimum.
If the trip is no longer worth making, take the refund and the $400. If you're partway through the trip, the airline must also fly you back to where you started, free (sections 17(2) and 18(1.2)).
On the new flight, extras you paid for but didn't get, such as seat selection, must be refunded, and so must the difference if you were moved to a lower class (section 18.1).

How fast the airline has to get you there

Within the airline's control (including safety): a large airline must book you on its own or a partner's next flight leaving within 9 hours of your original departure. If it can't, any airline's flight within 48 hours, and failing that a flight from a nearby airport plus transport there. A small airline must book its own or a partner's next available flight (section 17(1)).
Outside its control: the airline's own or a partner's next flight within 48 hours. If it can't do that, your choice of a refund or, on a large airline, the next flight on any airline, and you can still pick the refund up until a new booking is confirmed (section 18).
Comparable seat: the new flight should match your original service as far as possible, and a higher class costs you nothing extra (sections 17(3) and (5), 18(2) and (3)).

The reason the airline gives

Airlines often put cancellations in the categories that pay nothing, and those labels can be challenged. In Lubky v. WestJet (137-C-A-2022), WestJet cancelled a Honolulu flight after moving its plane to rescue passengers stranded by a fuel-tank problem on another aircraft. The Canadian Transportation Agency found the cancellation was WestJet's own decision and ordered $1,000 per passenger.

“Crew constraints” or staffing: usually within the airline's control. Crew shortages
“Maintenance” or “required for safety”: scheduled maintenance never counts as safety (section 1), and a fault the airline could have prevented counts as within its control, not a safety case (Anslow v. Sunwing, 20-C-A-2023). Mechanical problems
Weather: outside its control when it made flying unsafe, or when your flight was hit by an earlier weather disruption the airline took all reasonable steps to contain (section 10(2)). Weather cancellations

Your airline's claim form and its usual refusal lines are on the Air Canada, WestJet, Porter, Flair and Air Transat pages. If you missed a connection because of the cancellation, see missed connections.

To claim, send the airline a written request with your booking reference, the original and actual arrival times, the reason it gave, and the amount you're asking for. If it isn't resolved within 30 days, you can file a free complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency.

Write my claim

Free. LandedLate takes no share of what the airline pays you.

Questions

What compensation do I get if my flight is cancelled in Canada?

If the cancellation was within the airline's control, not required for safety, and you were told 14 days or less before departure, a large airline owes $400, $700 or $1,000 per passenger depending on how late you reach your destination (3 to 6 hours, 6 to 9, or 9 or more). A small airline owes $125, $250 or $500. If you take a refund instead of a new flight, the minimum is $400 from a large airline or $125 from a small one (section 19).

Should I take the refund or the new flight?

If you still want to make the trip, take the new flight. Compensation is then based on how late you arrive and can reach $1,000 from a large airline. If the trip is no longer worth making, take the refund. You get your money back within 30 days and, for a cancellation within the airline's control announced 14 days or less ahead, $400 on top (the minimum the rules set; sections 18.2 and 19(2)).

Is it true you lose compensation if you accept a refund?

No. Taking a refund doesn't cancel your right to compensation. For a cancellation within the airline's control and announced 14 days or less before departure, a refunded passenger is owed at least $400 from a large airline or $125 from a small one (section 19(2)). Only the amount changes. It is fixed at that minimum instead of rising with how late you would have arrived.

My cancelled flight was replaced by one that got me there 2 hours late. Am I owed anything?

Not compensation. The amounts start at 3 hours late at your destination (section 19(1)), so a cancellation within the airline's control can still pay nothing if the replacement flight gets you there sooner than that. You're still owed the new flight itself and, if you were told less than 12 hours ahead, food and drink once you'd waited 2 hours.

Do I get meals and a hotel when my flight is cancelled?

Only when the cause was within the airline's control (including safety reasons) and you were told less than 12 hours before departure. Then the airline must give food and drink once you've waited 2 hours past the original departure time, and a hotel plus transport to it if you have to wait overnight (section 14). For weather or other causes outside its control, no meals or hotel are owed.

Can the airline give me a voucher instead of a refund?

Only if you agree in writing. Refunds must go back to the way you paid, within 30 days, unless you were told the cash value in writing, the voucher doesn't expire, and you confirmed in writing that you chose it (section 18.2).

How long do I have to claim after a cancellation?

Your claim must reach the airline before the first anniversary of the cancellation (section 19(3)). The airline then has 30 days to pay or explain why it won't (section 19(4)).

Sources

General information, not legal advice.