Air Travellers Security Charge Act (S.C. 2002, c. 9, s. 5)

Administration and Officers

Marginal note:Minister’s duty

8 The Minister shall administer and enforce this Act and the Commissioner may exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Minister under this Act.

Marginal note:Officers and employees

• 9 (1) The officers, employees and agents that are necessary to administer and enforce this Act shall be appointed, employed or engaged in the manner authorized by law.

• Marginal note:Delegation of powers

  (2) The Minister may authorize an officer or agent or a class of officers or agents to exercise powers or perform duties of the Minister, including any judicial or quasi-judicial power or duty of the Minister, under this Act.

Marginal note:Administration of oaths

10 Any officer, if designated by the Minister for the purpose, may administer oaths and take and receive affidavits, declarations and affirmations for the purposes of or incidental to the administration or enforcement of this Act, and every officer so designated has for those purposes all the powers of a commissioner for administering oaths or taking affidavits.

Charge Payable

Marginal note:Charge payable

• 11 (1) Every person who acquires from a designated air carrier all or part of an air transportation service that includes a chargeable emplanement shall pay to Her Majesty a charge as determined under this Act in respect of the service.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (1.1) No charge is payable in respect of an air transportation service that is acquired

  • (a) by a person for the purpose of re-selling the service, if the person sells the service to another person before April 1, 2002 and makes full and final payment to the air carrier in respect of the service before May 1, 2002; or

  • (b) by a registered charity from an air carrier for no consideration, if the service is donated by the charity to an individual for no consideration and in pursuit of its charitable purposes.

• Marginal note:When charge payable

  (2) The charge in respect of the air transportation service is payable

  • (a) if any consideration is paid or payable for the service, at the time any consideration for the service is first paid or becomes payable;

  • (b) if no consideration is paid or payable for the service, at the time a ticket is issued for the service; or

  • (c) if no consideration is paid or payable for the service and no ticket is issued for the service, at the time of emplanement.

Marginal note:Amount of charge if service acquired in Canada

• 12 (1) Subject to subsection (3), if an air transportation service is acquired in Canada, the amount of the charge in respect of the service is

  • (a) $9.46 for each chargeable emplanement included in the service, to a maximum of $18.92, if

    • (i) the service does not include transportation to a destination outside Canada, and

    • (ii) tax under subsection 165(1) of the Excise Tax Act is required to be paid in respect of the service;

  • (b) $9.94 for each chargeable emplanement included in the service, to a maximum of $19.87, if

    • (i) the service does not include transportation to a destination outside Canada, and

    • (ii) tax under subsection 165(1) of the Excise Tax Act is not required to be paid in respect of the service;

  • (c) $16.08 for each chargeable emplanement included in the service, to a maximum of $32.16, if

    • (i) the service includes transportation to a destination outside Canada and does not include transportation to a destination outside the continental zone, and

    • (ii) tax under subsection 165(1) of the Excise Tax Act is required to be paid in respect of the service;

  • (d) $16.89 for each chargeable emplanement included in the service, to a maximum of $33.77, if

    • (i) the service includes transportation to a destination outside Canada and does not include transportation to a destination outside the continental zone, and

    • (ii) tax under subsection 165(1) of the Excise Tax Act is not required to be paid in respect of the service; or

  • (e) $34.42, if the service includes transportation to a destination outside the continental zone.

• Marginal note:Amount of charge if service acquired outside Canada

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), if an air transportation service is acquired outside Canada, the amount of the charge in respect of the service is

  • (a) $16.08 for each chargeable emplanement by an individual on an aircraft used to transport the individual to a destination outside Canada but within the continental zone, to a maximum of $32.16, if

    • (i) the service does not include transportation to a destination outside the continental zone, and

    • (ii) tax under subsection 165(1) of the Excise Tax Act is required to be paid in respect of the service;

  • (b) $16.89 for each chargeable emplanement by an individual on an aircraft used to transport the individual to a destination outside Canada but within the continental zone, to a maximum of $33.77, if

    • (i) the service does not include transportation to a destination outside the continental zone, and

    • (ii) tax under subsection 165(1) of the Excise Tax Act is not required to be paid in respect of the service; or

  • (c) $34.42, if the service includes transportation to a destination outside the continental zone.

• Marginal note:Prescribed amount of charge

  (3) The amount of the charge in respect of a prescribed air transportation service is the lesser of

  • (a) the amount that is determined in respect of the service under subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, and

  • (b) the amount that is prescribed, or determined in accordance with prescribed rules, in respect of the service.

Marginal note:Air transportation service deemed to be acquired in Canada

• 13 (1) An air transportation service that is acquired outside Canada is deemed to have been acquired in Canada and not outside Canada if any consideration for the service is paid

  • (a) by transmission from within Canada to a place outside Canada, by mail or electronic means, of cash, a cheque, a money order, a credit or debit card payment or any similar means of payment, to a ticket office, travel agency or air carrier or any representative of any of them;

  • (b) by delivery of an amount to an agency located within Canada for transmission to a ticket office, travel agency, air carrier or any representative of any of them located outside Canada; or

  • (c) by any other arrangement with a person outside Canada for the benefit or convenience of a person who is resident in Canada.

• Marginal note:Charter flights

  (2) If an air transportation service that begins in Canada is acquired outside Canada by a person in the course of a charter operation, the service is deemed to have been acquired in Canada and not outside Canada.

Collection of Charge

Marginal note:Duty of designated air carrier to collect charge

• 14 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), every designated air carrier from whom all or part of an air transportation service is acquired by a person who is required by this Act to pay a charge in respect of that service shall, as an agent of Her Majesty, collect the charge not later than the time the charge becomes payable by the person.

• Marginal note:Multiple carriers — service acquired in Canada

  (2) If an air transportation service acquired in Canada is comprised of transportation of an individual by air by two or more designated air carriers, any charge that is payable in respect of the service shall be collected

  • (a) if all of the tickets for the service are issued by a designated air carrier, by that carrier; or

  • (b) in any other case, by the designated air carrier operating the aircraft on which the individual first makes a chargeable emplanement.

• Marginal note:Issuing carrier deemed to be supplier of service

  (3) If a ticket for an air transportation service acquired in Canada is issued to a person by a designated air carrier that does not provide any part of the air transportation service, the air transportation service is deemed to have been acquired by the person from that designated air carrier.

• Marginal note:Multiple carriers — service acquired outside Canada

  (4) If an air transportation service acquired outside Canada is comprised of transportation of an individual by air by two or more designated air carriers, any charge that is payable in respect of the service shall be collected by the designated air carrier operating the first aircraft that transports the individual to a destination outside Canada and on which the individual makes a chargeable emplanement included in the service.

• Marginal note:Joint and several or solidary liability

  (5) If a designated air carrier issues a ticket and accepts consideration on behalf of another designated air carrier for an air transportation service acquired outside Canada in respect of which the other carrier is required to collect a charge, those carriers are jointly and severally or solidarily liable for all obligations under this Act arising from, or as a consequence of, the acquisition of the service or any failure to collect or pay the charge.

Marginal note:Trust for amounts collected

• 15 (1) Every person who collects an amount as or on account of a charge is deemed, for all purposes and despite any security interest (other than a prescribed security interest) in the amount, to hold the amount in trust for Her Majesty, separate and apart from the property of the person and from property held by any secured creditor of the person that, but for a security interest, would be property of the person, until the amount is paid to the Receiver General or withdrawn under subsection (3).

• Marginal note:Amounts collected before bankruptcy

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply, at or after the time a person becomes a bankrupt (within the meaning of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act), to any amounts that, before that time, were collected or became collectible by the person as or on account of a charge.

• Marginal note:Withdrawal from trust

  (3) A person who holds amounts in trust by reason of subsection (1) may withdraw from the amounts any amount refunded by the person under section 32.

• Marginal note:Extension of trust

  (4) Despite any other provision of this Act, any other enactment of Canada (except the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act), any enactment of a province or any other law, if at any time an amount deemed by subsection (1) to be held by a person in trust for Her Majesty is not remitted to the Receiver General or withdrawn in the manner and at the time provided under this Part, property of the person and property held by any secured creditor of the person that, but for a security interest, would be property of the person, equal in value to the amount so deemed to be held in trust, is deemed

  • (a) to be held, from the time the amount was collected by the person, in trust for Her Majesty, separate and apart from the property of the person, whether or not the property is subject to a security interest, and

  • (b) to form no part of the estate or property of the person from the time the amount was collected, whether or not the property has in fact been kept separate and apart from the estate or property of the person and whether or not the property is subject to a security interest

  and is property beneficially owned by Her Majesty despite any security interest in the property or in the proceeds thereof, and the proceeds of the property shall be paid to the Receiver General in priority to all security interests.

Marginal note:No action for collection of charge

15.1 No person, other than Her Majesty, may bring an action or proceeding against any person for acting in compliance or intended compliance with this Act by collecting an amount as or on account of the charge.

General Provisions Concerning Charges and Other Amounts Payable

Fiscal Periods

Marginal note:Determination of fiscal months

• 16 (1) The fiscal months of a designated air carrier shall be determined in accordance with the following rules:

  • (a) if fiscal months of the carrier have been determined under subsection 243(2) or (4) of the Excise Tax Act for the purposes of Part IX of that Act, each of those fiscal months is a fiscal month of the carrier for the purposes of this Act;

  • (b) if fiscal months of the carrier have not been determined under subsection 243(2) or (4) of the Excise Tax Act for the purposes of Part IX of that Act, the carrier may choose, at the time of registration under section 17, as their fiscal months for the purposes of this Act, fiscal months that meet the requirements set out in subsection 243(2) of the Excise Tax Act; and

  • (c) if paragraph (a) does not apply and the carrier has not chosen their fiscal months under paragraph (b), each calendar month is a fiscal month of the carrier for the purposes of this Act.

• Marginal note:Determination of fiscal half-years

  (2) The fiscal half-years of a designated air carrier shall be determined in accordance with the following rules:

  • (a) the period beginning on the first day of the first fiscal month in a fiscal year of the carrier and ending on the earlier of the last day of the sixth fiscal month and the last day in the fiscal year is a fiscal half-year of the carrier; and

  • (b) the period, if any, beginning on the first day of the seventh fiscal month and ending on the last day in the fiscal year of the carrier is a fiscal half-year of the carrier.

Reporting Periods

Marginal note:Reporting period — general

• 16.1 (1) Subject to this section, the reporting period of a designated air carrier is a fiscal month.

• Marginal note:Reporting period — semi-annual

  (2) On application in the prescribed form and manner by a designated air carrier, the Minister may, in writing, authorize the reporting period of that carrier to be a fiscal half-year in a particular fiscal year if

  • (a) the carrier has been registered for a period exceeding twelve consecutive fiscal months;

  • (b) the total of all charges and amounts collected or required to be collected under this Act by the carrier and any person associated with the carrier in the fiscal year ending immediately before the particular fiscal year did not exceed $120,000;

  • (c) the total of all charges and amounts collected or required to be collected under this Act by the carrier and any person associated with the carrier in the particular fiscal year does not exceed $120,000; and

  • (d) the carrier is in compliance with the Act.

• Marginal note:Deemed revocation

  (3) An authorization under subsection (2) is deemed to be revoked if the total of all charges and amounts collected or required to be collected under this Act by the carrier and any person associated with the carrier exceeds $120,000 in a fiscal year, which revocation is effective as of the first day after the end of the fiscal half-year in which the excess occurs.

• Marginal note:Revocation — other

  (4) The Minister may revoke an authorization if

  • (a) the carrier requests in writing the Minister to do so;

  • (b) the carrier fails to comply with the Act; or

  • (c) the Minister considers that the authorization is no longer required.

• Marginal note:Notice of revocation

  (5) If the Minister revokes an authorization under subsection (4), the Minister shall send a notice in writing of the revocation to the carrier and shall specify in the notice the fiscal month for which the revocation becomes effective.

• Marginal note:Deemed reporting period on revocation

  (6) If a revocation under subsection (4) becomes effective before the last day of a fiscal half-year of a carrier that is authorized under subsection (2), the period beginning on the first day of the fiscal half-year and ending immediately before the first day of the fiscal month for which the revocation becomes effective is deemed to be a reporting period of the carrier.