Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 1996, c. 10)
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Act current to 2024-08-18 and last amended on 2023-09-30. Previous Versions
PART IVArbitrations (continued)
DIVISION IIArbitration on Level of Services (continued)
Marginal note:Contents of submission
169.32 (1) The submission must contain
(a) a detailed description of the matters submitted to the Agency for arbitration;
(b) a description of the traffic to which the service obligations relate;
(c) an undertaking with respect to the traffic, if any, given by the shipper to the railway company that must be complied with for the period during which the arbitrator’s decision applies to the parties, other than an undertaking given by the shipper to the railway company with respect to an operational term described in paragraph 169.31(1)(c);
(d) an undertaking given by the shipper to the railway company to ship the goods to which the service obligations relate in accordance with the arbitrator’s decision; and
(e) an undertaking given by the shipper to the Agency to pay the fee and costs for which the shipper is liable under subsection 169.39(3) as a party to the arbitration.
Marginal note:Copy of submission served
(2) The shipper must serve a copy of the submission on the railway company on the day on which it submits the matters to the Agency for arbitration.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
Marginal note:Arbitration precluded in certain cases
169.33 (1) The Agency must dismiss the submission if
(a) the shipper has not, at least 15 days before making it, served on the railway company and the Agency a written notice indicating that the shipper intends to make a submission to the Agency for arbitration; or
(b) the shipper does not demonstrate, to the Agency’s satisfaction, that an attempt has been made to resolve the matters contained in it.
Marginal note:Content of notice
(2) The notice must contain the descriptions referred to in paragraphs 169.32(1)(a) and (b) and, if the shipper’s submission will contain an undertaking described in paragraph 169.32(1)(c), a description of that undertaking.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
Marginal note:Submission of proposals
169.34 (1) Despite any application filed under section 169.43, the shipper and the railway company must each submit, within 10 days after the day on which a copy of a submission is served under subsection 169.32(2), to the Agency, in order to resolve the matters that are submitted to it for arbitration by the shipper, a proposal that contains any of the following terms:
(a) any operational term described in paragraph 169.31(1)(a), (b) or (c);
(a.1) any term with respect to an amount described in paragraph 169.31(1)(c.1), if the matter in respect of the amount has been submitted by the shipper for arbitration;
(b) any term for the provision of a service described in paragraph 169.31(1)(d);
(c) any term with respect to the application of a charge described in paragraph 169.31(1)(e); or
(d) any term with respect to the dispute resolution process described in paragraph 169.31(1)(f).
Marginal note:Proposals provided to parties
(2) The Agency must provide the shipper and the railway company with a copy of the other party’s proposal immediately after the day on which it receives the last of the two proposals.
Marginal note:Exchange of information
(3) The parties must exchange the information that they intend to submit to the arbitrator in support of their proposals within 20 days after the day on which a copy of a submission is served under subsection 169.32(2) or within a period agreed to by the parties or fixed by the arbitrator.
Marginal note:Exception
(4) Unless the parties agree otherwise, a party to the arbitration is not, in support of the proposal it submits under subsection (1), to refer to any offer, or any part of an offer, that was made to it — before a copy of the submission is served under subsection 169.32(2) — by the other party to the arbitration for the purpose of entering into a confidential contract.
Marginal note:If no proposal from party
(5) If one party does not submit a proposal in accordance with subsection (1), the proposal submitted by the other party is the arbitrator’s decision made under section 169.37.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
- 2018, c. 10, s. 51
Marginal note:Arbitration
169.35 (1) Despite any application filed under section 169.43, the Agency must refer, within two business days after the day on which it receives the last of the two proposals, the matters for arbitration to be conducted by an arbitrator that it chooses.
Marginal note:Arbitrator not to act in other proceedings
(2) The arbitrator is not to act in any other proceedings in relation to a matter that is referred to him or her for arbitration.
Marginal note:Assistance by Agency
(3) The Agency may, at the arbitrator’s request, provide administrative, technical and legal assistance to the arbitrator.
Marginal note:Arbitration not proceeding
(4) The arbitration is not a proceeding before the Agency.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
Marginal note:Agency’s rules of procedure
169.36 (1) The Agency may make rules of procedure for an arbitration.
Marginal note:Procedure generally
(2) Subject to any rule of procedure made by the Agency and in the absence of an agreement between the arbitrator and the parties as to the procedure to be followed, the arbitrator must conduct the arbitration as quickly as possible and in the manner that he or she considers appropriate having regard to the circumstances of the matter.
Marginal note:Questions
(3) Each party may direct questions to the other in the manner that the arbitrator considers appropriate.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
Marginal note:Arbitrator’s decision
169.37 (1) The arbitrator’s decision must establish the following terms, or any combination of the following terms, that the arbitrator considers necessary to resolve the matters that are referred to him or her for arbitration:
(a) any operational term described in paragraph 169.31(1)(a), (b) or (c);
(b) any term with respect to an amount described in paragraph 169.31(1)(c.1) if the matter in respect of the amount has been submitted by the shipper for arbitration;
(c) any term for the provision of a service described in paragraph 169.31(1)(d);
(d) any term with respect to the application of a charge described in paragraph 169.31(1)(e); or
(e) any term with respect to the dispute resolution process described in paragraph 169.31(1)(f).
Marginal note:Elements to consider
(2) In making the decision, the arbitrator must have regard to the following:
(a) the traffic to which the service obligations relate;
(b) the service that the shipper requires with respect to the traffic;
(c) any undertaking described in paragraph 169.32(1)(c) that is contained in the shipper’s submission;
(d) the railway company’s obligations under this Act in respect of the operation of the railway;
(e) the railway company’s obligations, if any, with respect to a public passenger service provider;
(f) the railway company’s and the shipper’s operational requirements and restrictions;
(g) the question of whether there is available to the shipper an alternative, effective, adequate and competitive means of transporting the goods to which the service obligations relate; and
(h) any information that the arbitrator considers relevant.
Marginal note:Efficiency
(3) The arbitrator shall establish a term with respect to an amount described in paragraph 169.31(1)(c.1) in a manner that encourages the efficient movement of the shipper’s traffic and the performance of the railway system and that is balanced between the shipper and the railway company.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
- 2018, c. 10, s. 52
Marginal note:Requirements of decision
169.38 (1) The arbitrator’s decision must
(a) be made in writing;
(b) be made so as to apply to the parties for a period of one year as of the date of his or her decision, unless the parties agree otherwise; and
(c) be commercially fair and reasonable to the parties.
Marginal note:Decision binding
(2) The arbitrator’s decision is final and binding on the parties and is deemed, for the purposes of Division IV of Part III and its enforceability between the parties, to be a confidential contract.
Marginal note:Period for making decision
(3) The arbitrator’s decision must be made within 45 days after the day on which the matters are submitted to the Agency for arbitration under subsection 169.31(1) unless in the arbitrator’s opinion making a decision within that period is not practical, in which case the arbitrator must make his or her decision within 65 days after that day.
Marginal note:Period — agreement of parties
(4) Despite subsection (3), the arbitrator may, with the agreement of the parties, make his or her decision within a period that is longer than 65 days after the day on which the matters are submitted to the Agency for arbitration.
Marginal note:Copy of decision to Agency
(5) The arbitrator must provide the Agency with a copy of his or her decision.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
Marginal note:Arbitration fees
169.39 (1) The Agency may fix the fee to be paid to it or, if the arbitrator is not a member or on the staff of the Agency, to the arbitrator for the arbitrator’s services in arbitration proceedings.
Marginal note:Arbitration fees — not member
(2) An arbitrator who is not a member or on the staff of the Agency may fix a fee for his or her services if the Agency does not do so under subsection (1).
Marginal note:Payment of fees and costs
(3) The shipper and the railway company are to share equally, whether or not the proceedings are terminated under section 169.41, in the payment of the fee for the arbitrator’s services and in the payment of the costs related to the arbitration, including those borne by the Agency in providing administrative, technical and legal assistance to the arbitrator under subsection 169.35(3).
Marginal note:Cost related to arbitration
(4) Costs related to the arbitration also include the cost to the Agency when a member or a person on the staff of the Agency acts as an arbitrator and the Agency does not fix a fee for that arbitrator under subsection (1).
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
Marginal note:Confidentiality of information
169.4 (1) If the Agency and the arbitrator are advised that a party to an arbitration wishes to keep information relating to the arbitration confidential, the Agency and the arbitrator must take all reasonably necessary measures to ensure that the information is not disclosed by the Agency or the arbitrator or during the arbitration to any person other than the parties.
Marginal note:Limited disclosure
(2) Despite subsection (1), the Agency may, in the exercise of its powers or in the performance of its duties and functions under this Act, disclose any information that a party advised the Agency and the arbitrator it wishes to keep confidential.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
Marginal note:Termination of proceedings
169.41 If, before the arbitrator makes his or her decision, the parties advise the Agency or the arbitrator that they agree that the matters being arbitrated should be withdrawn from arbitration, any proceedings in respect of those matters are immediately terminated.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
Marginal note:List of arbitrators
169.42 (1) The Agency, in consultation with representatives of shippers and railway companies, must establish a list of persons, including persons who are members or on the staff of the Agency, who agree to act as arbitrators in arbitrations.
Marginal note:Expertise required
(2) Only persons who, in the Agency’s opinion, have sufficient expertise to act as arbitrators are to be named in the list.
Marginal note:Publication of list
(3) The Agency must publish the list on its Internet site.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
Marginal note:Application for order
169.43 (1) A railway company may apply to the Agency, within 10 days after the day on which it is served with a copy of a submission under subsection 169.32(2), for an order declaring that the shipper is not entitled to submit to the Agency for arbitration a matter contained in the shipper’s submission.
Marginal note:Content of order
(2) If the Agency makes the order, it may also
(a) dismiss the submission for arbitration, if the matter contained in it has not been referred to arbitration;
(b) discontinue the arbitration;
(c) subject the arbitration to any terms that it specifies; or
(d) set aside the arbitrator’s decision or any part of it.
Marginal note:Period for making decision
(3) The Agency must make a decision on the railway company’s application made under subsection (1) as soon as feasible but not later than 35 days after the day on which it receives the application.
- 2013, c. 31, s. 11
PART VTransportation of Persons with Disabilities
Marginal note:Definitions
169.5 The following definitions apply in paragraph 5(d.1) and this Part.
- barrier
barrier means anything — including anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice — that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation. (obstacle)
- disability
disability means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment — or a functional limitation — whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society. (handicap)
Marginal note:Regulations
170 (1) The Agency may, after consulting with the Minister, make regulations for the purpose of identifying or removing barriers or preventing new barriers — particularly barriers in the built environment, information and communication technologies and the design and delivery of programs and services — in the transportation network under the legislative authority of Parliament to the mobility of persons with disabilities, including regulations respecting
(a) the design, construction or modification of, and the posting of signs on, in or around, means of transportation and related facilities and premises, including equipment used in them;
(b) the training of personnel employed at or in those facilities or premises or by carriers;
(c) tariffs, rates, fares, charges and terms and conditions of carriage applicable in respect of the transportation of persons with disabilities or incidental services; and
(d) the communication of information to persons with disabilities.
Marginal note:Incorporation by reference
(2) Regulations made under subsection (1) incorporating standards or enactments by reference may incorporate them as amended from time to time.
Marginal note:Exemption
(3) The Agency may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make orders exempting specified persons, means of transportation, services or related facilities and premises from the application of regulations made under subsection (1).
Marginal note:Exemption
(4) On application and after consulting with the Minister, the Agency may, by order, on any terms that it considers necessary,
(a) exempt a person from the application of regulations made under subsection (1) if the Agency is satisfied that the person has taken or will take measures — at least equivalent to those that must be taken under the provisions of the regulations for which an exemption is to be granted — to remove barriers or to prevent new barriers; or
(b) exempt a class of persons from the application of regulations made under subsection (1) if the Agency is satisfied that all the members of the class have taken or will take measures — at least equivalent to those that must be taken under the provisions of the regulations for which an exemption is to be granted — to remove barriers or to prevent new barriers.
The order ceases to have effect on the earlier of the end of the period of three years that begins on the day on which the order is made and the end of any shorter period specified in the order.
- 1996, c. 10, s. 170
- 2019, c. 10, s. 170
- Date modified: