MONTREAL — The Quebec Court of Appeal has ordered Air Canada to pay passengers more than $10 million in damages in a class-action lawsuit that alleged they charged more than the ticket price advertised.
In a ruling Tuesday, Justice Judith Harvie wrote that Air Canada showed "ignorance and laxity" when the airline concluded it was exempt from a provincial Consumer Protection Act provision because air transport generally falls under federal jurisdiction.
"The fault is serious, deliberate and affects a large number of consumers," the decision states in French.
"Air Canada has put its own commercial interests first, demonstrating a serious lack of concern and care for consumers. An award of punitive damages is necessary to denounce this behaviour."
The ruling overturns a lower court decision that found Air Canada had breached the law but that no harm resulted, eliminating the need for damages.
The 15-year-old case was brought forward by a consumer advocacy group and Montreal resident Michael Silas, who said the airline did not include all extra fees, such a fuel surcharge, in the price listed online, violating a consumer protection law passed weeks before his ticket purchase in 2010.
Silas said he was charged $124 more in taxes, fees and surcharges than the fare price shown during the first step of the ticket-buying process on Air Canada's website.
In their initial claim, the plaintiffs argued the airline undermined customers' ability to make informed choices and had to reimburse sums that were charged above the advertised price, not including taxes.
The judge said Air Canada "no longer disputes" that it breached provincial law, while adding that "the evidence does not demonstrate that a specific consumer was in fact misled."
Air Canada said it is reviewing whether to try to appeal this week's decision.
Spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said the ruling is based mainly on a difference of interpretation over the meaning and "interaction of federal and provincial laws" before February 2012, since clarified by case law.
"The circumstances that gave rise to the decision therefore have not existed since 2012," he said in an email.
The Union des consommateurs took issue with the carrier's framing.
"Despite Air Canada's assertions, the violations of the Consumer Protection Act sanctioned by the court are not technicalities. On the contrary, it severely denounced the company's 'negligent and careless' behaviour," said co-director general Maxime Dorais in an emailed statement.
The appeal court ruling comes amid a debate about whether growing airline charges and fare classes amount to so-called junk fees or offer greater choice for travellers.
In January, Air Canada began to charge its lowest-tier customers a fee on trips within North America and to sun destinations to check duffel bags, rolling suitcases and large backpacks — $35 for the first, $50 for the second. Those luggage types are no longer allowed in the overhead bin for travellers in the "basic" fare class.
The moves mark a shift toward a budget airline-style offering from the country's largest carrier, which along with rivals has relied increasingly on ancillary fees for formerly bundled services that range from checked bags to onboard snacks and Wi-Fi access.
The judge seemed to weigh in on Tuesday.
"Air Canada's continued practice of price breakdown seeks above all to maintain its competitive interest in the market, not to protect the interests of consumers," Harvie wrote.
In its defence, the airline has argued that consumers are often sensitive to the initial price display, which does not include extra fees and charges, and compare prices based on what they see on the screen, she noted.
"The interests of consumers are certainly not better served by a violation of the law because of a widespread practice in the industry to this effect," the ruling states.
"On the contrary, this interest rather militates in favour of greater transparency by displaying all the information held by Air Canada from the first navigation step on its website, including the base fare, the amount of the fees and the amount of the taxes."
Th $10 million in damages amounts to $14.45 per ticket sold to class-action group members between June 30, 2010, and Feb. 8, 2012, according to the decision.
The Union des consommateurs said it is weighing whether to file an appeal after the court declined to order full reimbursement for all "unlawfully charged fees," the advocacy group said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2025.
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Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
