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Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

Strategic Outcome

Transparent, fair and timely dispute resolution and economic regulation of the national transportation system

Economic Regulation

This program activity is responsible for the economic regulation of the national transportation system. It is responsible for a wide range of matters involving air, rail and marine modes of transportation under the legislative authority of Parliament and, for certain accessibility matters, extra-provincial bus transportation. The program derives its authority from the Canada Transportation Act, as well as other laws and regulations that it is mandated to administer.

The scope of responsibilities of the Economic Regulation program is broad and varied. Within the context of a pro-competitive transportation policy framework, responsibilities extend to targeted aspects of the national transportation system:

• market entry: ensures that entrants into the Canadian transportation marketplace meet basic legislative and regulatory requirements (insurance, safety, Canadian ownership, etc.);
• market behaviour: protects the interests of transportation users, service providers and other affected parties; and
• market exit: determines conditions under which carriers can or must exit certain markets.

Applications handled by the program vary greatly in complexity and volume. However, the vast majority of applications involve only one party seeking an authorization or determination from the Agency. Further information regarding this program can be found on the Agency's Web site.^[5]

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012–2013	2013–2014	2014–2015
12,684	12,198	12,133

Human Resources (Full-Time Equivalents—FTEs)

2012–2013	2013–2014	2014–2015
113	113	113

Expected Results and Performance Indicators

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Economic and other interests of transportation users, service providers and other affected parties are protected through timely and effective intervention	Percentage of satisfaction with economic regulation services	70%
Service providers (air, rail and marine) comply with regulatory requirements	Percentage of air carriers found to be non-compliant with essential market-entry requirements	Less than 1%
	Level of compliance with targeted regulatory and voluntary accessibility requirements	100%
CN and CP are provided with the information required to ensure they do not exceed the maximum grain revenue entitlements for the shipment of Western grain	Number of times that either CN or CP have not exceeded their Western grain revenue cap entitlement by more than 1% over the last three years	5 out of 6

Planning Highlights

The Agency will focus on achieving results in two critical areas, which are the modernization of the Agency's regulatory regime and the streamlining of the administration of its regulatory responsibilities.

To modernize its regulatory regime, the Agency plans to:

Air

• develop air price advertising regulations to improve air price transparency for Canadian air travellers and promote fair competition in the air industry;
• develop a monitoring regime for air services price advertising regulations;
• conduct consultations on sections of the Air Transportation Regulations dealing with air charters in order to better align the regulations with the current policy framework and the evolution of the air industry;
• develop and issue an interpretation note on how the Agency makes determinations on what is a publicly available air service;
• develop and issue an interpretation note on airport signage for the public inspection of tariffs;
• develop and issue an interpretation note on who is the operator of an air service;
• develop and issue an interpretation note on the granting of an exemption to the prohibition to sell an air service prior to having received a licence;

Rail

• issue guidelines respecting net salvage value determination applications;
• work towards expanding designated provisions for which administrative monetary penalties can be applied to address certain railway matters;
• review the Guide for Railway Charges for Crossing Maintenance and Construction;
• review the Uniform Classification of Accounts (UCA) for federal railway companies.

Accessible Transportation

• update the Personnel Training for the Assistance of Persons with Disabilities Regulations and Part VII of the Air Transportation Regulations regarding the conditions of carriage of persons with disabilities. This will be done to address emerging issues in accessible transportation in a way that balances the rights and responsibilities of persons with disabilities and those of the transportation industry, and to give proper consideration to the operational and economic realities of the industry;
• create a code of practice that sets out minimum expected standards regarding the accessibility of non-National Airport System air terminals;
• create a resource tool to facilitate compliance by air carriers, passenger rail operators and ferries with standards regarding the carriage of mobility aids.

To streamline the administration of the regulatory regime, the Agency plans to:

• work towards the development of a new online delivery channel (client portal), which will provide enhanced services to stakeholders and act as a catalyst for re-examining its business processes;
• streamline internal regulatory administrative processes by developing internal policies for the processing of cases and the removal of unnecessary approvals;
• review and update its application forms to ensure Agency stakeholders have current and easily understandable information, including the air services financial requirement application forms and an application form on how to file a tariff;
• maintain continuous two-way communication with stakeholders through consultations, outreach and engagement; and
• integrate stakeholder feedback on Agency services, products and responsiveness into performance assessment for continuous improvement.

Adjudication and Alternative Dispute Resolution

The Agency resolves transportation disputes affecting air, rail and marine modes under the legislative authority of Parliament, as well as matters relating to accessibility of the federal transportation system for persons with disabilities.

Applicants presenting their issues to the Agency include passengers, shippers, transportation service providers, municipalities, road authorities, landowners and other affected parties. Applications cover a wide variety of matters. Some matters are relatively moderate and can be dealt with quickly while others are more complex and may take a long time to resolve. The Agency's authorities are defined by various Acts and regulations. In all cases, the Agency rigorously applies rules of natural justice and ensures that it issues balanced, fair and clear decisions that take into consideration previously decided cases, and that respect the decisions of the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Disputes are resolved by a variety of methods that include informal facilitation, mediation, an arbitration process administered by the Agency and a formal adjudicative process.

Resolving disputes in a fair, transparent and timely manner helps achieve a competitive, efficient and accessible transportation system, and helps to meet the needs of users, service providers and other affected parties. Further information regarding this program can be found on the Agency's Web site^[6].

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012–2013	2013–2014	2014–2015
8,626	8,124	7,974

Human Resources (Full-Time Equivalents—FTEs)

2012–2013	2013–2014	2014–2015
71	71	71

Expected Results and Performance Indicators

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Access to specialized transportation dispute resolution that is transparent, fair and timely	Percentage of satisfaction with Agency dispute resolution services	70%

Planning Highlights

For the Client Services strategic priority, the Agency will focus on achieving results in two critical areas: improving and modernizing dispute resolution services; and building constructive and positive relations with our clients in order to proactively respond to their evolving needs.

To ensure that dispute resolution services are of high quality, the Agency plans to:

• streamline the processing of adjudicated disputes through triaging and delegation of administrative issues to staff;
• develop client-oriented resources to help potential applicants;
• conduct post-mortems on significant, complex, adjudicated cases to identify areas for efficiency gains in the future;
• establish and document procedures for arbitrating rail disputes;
• develop and document a streamlined process for mediating complaints;
• ensure that alternative dispute resolution services are inclusive for persons with disabilities;
• expand the use of teleconferencing and explore the use of video-conferencing with clients and stakeholders to resolve their complaints;
• develop resource tools for facilitating dispute resolution and for resolving accessibility complaints; and,
• develop a guide for non-represented parties.

To build constructive and positive relations with our clients and proactively respond to their evolving needs, the Agency plans to:

• meet regularly with various carriers, shippers and industry associations on air travel, rail and marine issues to promote a better understanding of the Canada Transportation Act and Agency dispute resolution processes;
• continue to participate in the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Status of Persons with Disabilities and the Transportation Research Board;
• develop an online communication forum to enhance communications with the Accessibility Advisory Committee;
• develop and implement an action plan in response to the client satisfaction survey; and
• develop and implement an action plan to address feedback from the multi-modal consultative process on the accessibility of the federal transportation network.

Internal Services

Internal Services support the Agency's corporate programs and obligations. Internal services include: management and oversight services; communications services; corporate legal services; human resources management services; financial management services; information management services; information technology services; material services; acquisition services; and other administrative services. Internal Services are responsible for those activities and resources that apply across the organization only, and not for those provided specifically to a program.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012–2013	2013–2014	2014–2015
8,109	7,655	7,515

Human Resources (Full-Time Equivalents—FTEs)

2012–2013	2013–2014	2014–2015
73	72	72

Planning Highlights

Key Initiatives:

• Continue to enhance communications tools to support the Agency's people-related Strategic Objectives, including providing employees with clear and timely information to support them in doing their work;
• Implement action plans to respond to the Public Service Employee Survey and monitor progress;
• Continue to refine corporate management and oversight activities in response to government priorities such as Public Service Renewal and the Management Accountability Framework;
• Continue to review and improve financial management, information management, information technology, and procurement practices to ensure the security and integrity of the Agency's information, assets and systems, in accordance with central agency direction and policies;
• Continue to monitor and update the Corporate Risk Profile and Business Continuity Plan, and to integrate them into business planning practices; and
• Continue to assess opportunities for use of shared corporate services and systems.

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