Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (SOR/2019-244)

Marginal note:Bus transportation — services

• 36 (1) A bus carrier must ensure that members of personnel on board the bus, on the request of a person with a disability who is using a mobility aid, provide the following services:

  • (a) if the bus is not equipped with a washroom that accommodates a person using a mobility aid and any support person, stopping the bus, at least every two and a half hours, at a rest stop with such a washroom or at a rest stop chosen by the person under paragraph 54(2)(b);

  • (b) allowing the person an adequate amount of time to use washrooms at rest stops, taking into account the additional time that is required for the person to board and disembark from the bus; and

  • (c) permitting the person to board or disembark at a stop of their choice if the member of personnel who is operating the bus considers it safe to do so and, if not, informing the person of the location of the closest safe stop.

• Marginal note:Additional services

  (2) A bus carrier must ensure that members of personnel on board the bus, on the request of a person with a disability, provide the following services:

  • (a) assisting the person with boarding and disembarking at any stops and with their baggage; and

  • (b) assisting the person to proceed to the curbside zone.

Marginal note:Persons not independently mobile

37 If a person with a disability who is in a wheelchair, a boarding chair or any other device in which the person is not independently mobile is waiting at a terminal for departure after check-in or in order to transfer to another segment of their trip, the carrier must ensure that members of personnel

• (a) provide the person with a place to wait that is close to members of personnel who are available to provide assistance to the person; and

• (b) periodically inquire about the person’s needs and attend to those needs if the services requested by the person are services that are required by this Part.

Marginal note:Request for assistance

38 Unless a person with a disability is able to request assistance from members of personnel by means of a call button, the carrier must ensure that members of personnel periodically inquire about the person’s needs and attend to those needs if the services requested by the person are services that are required by this Part.

Marginal note:Personal electronic device

39 A carrier that is subject to the requirements set out in section 81, 117, 164 or 205 must, on the request of a person with a disability, provide to the person, for their use while on board, a personal electronic device that is referred to in that section.

Transportation of Mobility Aids and Other Assistive Devices

Marginal note:Priority baggage

• 40 (1) Subject to sections 44 to 47, a carrier must, on the request of a person with a disability who needs a mobility aid during travel, accept the mobility aid for transport as priority baggage.

• Marginal note:Option to retain

  (2) The carrier must permit the person to retain their mobility aid until it becomes necessary to store it.

Marginal note:Services

• 41 (1) A carrier must provide the following services to a person with a disability who uses a mobility aid:

  • (a) if it is necessary in order to make room for the storage of that mobility aid, removing any cargo and other baggage from storage;

  • (b) if the mobility aid needs to be disassembled and packaged in order to store it, disassembling and packaging the mobility aid and, on arrival at the person’s destination, unpackaging and reassembling it; and

  • (c) promptly returning the mobility aid to the person on arrival at the destination.

• Marginal note:Disassembly and reassembly

  (2) A carrier may require a person who requests the service referred to in paragraph (1)(b) to do any of the following:

  • (a) provide the carrier with written instructions for the disassembly and reassembly of the mobility aid; and

  • (b) check in or arrive at the boarding area before the scheduled time for check-in or boarding.

Marginal note:On-board storage — trains or ferries

42 A rail or marine carrier must permit a person with a disability who uses a mobility aid to store their mobility aid on board the train or ferry.

Marginal note:On-board storage — aircraft or buses

43 An air or bus carrier must make a reasonable effort to permit a person with a disability who uses a walker or manual folding wheelchair to store it on board the aircraft or bus.

Marginal note:Refused transportation — aircraft

44 An air carrier may refuse to transport a person’s mobility aid if

• (a) the size of the door to the aircraft’s baggage compartment or the size of the aircraft’s baggage compartment is not large enough to accommodate the mobility aid;

• (b) it would jeopardize aircraft airworthiness; or

• (c) the weight or size of the mobility aid exceeds the capacity of the lift or ramp.

Marginal note:Refused transportation — trains

45 A rail carrier may refuse to transport a person’s mobility aid if

• (a) the doorways and turning radii of every passenger rail car and the doors of every baggage car are not large enough to accommodate the mobility aid;

• (b) the weight or size of the mobility aid exceeds the capacity of the lift or ramp; or

• (c) the person must remain in the mobility aid in order to board the train and the combined weight of the person and the mobility aid exceeds the capacity of the lift or ramp.

Marginal note:Refused transportation — ferries

46 A marine carrier may refuse to transport a person’s mobility aid if

• (a) the weight or size of the mobility aid exceeds the capacity of the gangway or ramp; or

• (b) the person must remain in the mobility aid in order to board the ferry and the combined weight of the person and the mobility aid exceeds the capacity of the gangway or ramp.

Marginal note:Refused transportation — buses

47 A bus carrier may refuse to transport a person’s mobility aid if

• (a) the size of the door to the bus’s baggage compartment or the size of the bus’s baggage compartment is not large enough to accommodate the mobility aid;

• (b) the weight or size of the mobility aid exceeds the capacity of the baggage compartment or of the lift, ramp or bridge plate; or

• (c) the person must remain in the mobility aid in order to board the bus and the combined weight of the person and the mobility aid exceeds the capacity of the lift, ramp or bridge plate.

Marginal note:Explanation of refusal and alternatives

48 If a carrier refuses to transport the mobility aid of a person with a disability, the carrier must

• (a) at the time of the refusal, inform the person of the carrier’s reasons for refusal and, not later than 10 days after the day of the refusal, provide the person with a written notice setting out the reasons for the refusal; and

• (b) advise the person of the availability of alternative trips that are provided by the carrier to the same destination and on which the mobility aid will not be refused for transport, and offer to book any such alternative trip for the person at the lesser of the fare for the original trip and the fare for the alternative trip.

Marginal note:Small assistive devices

49 A carrier must permit a person with a disability to bring on board and to retain any small assistive device that the person needs during travel, including a cane, crutches, a communication device, an orthotic positioning device or a portable oxygen concentrator.

Transportation of Support Persons

Marginal note:Duty to transport

• 50 (1) A carrier must, on the request of a person with a disability, accept a support person for transport if, because of the nature of their disability, the person, after departure and before arrival, needs

  • (a) assistance with eating meals, taking medication, using the washroom;

  • (b) assistance with transferring to and from a passenger seat;

  • (c) assistance with orientation or communication; or

  • (d) physical assistance in the event of an emergency, including in the case of an evacuation or decompression.

• Marginal note:Adjacent passenger seat

  (2) The carrier must provide a passenger seat for the support person that is adjacent to the passenger seat of the person with a disability.