Canada APPR Claim Letter: Flight Delay Request in Writing

Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) set out standards for many flights to, from, and within Canada. If your trip was delayed or cancelled, a clear written request helps the airline review your booking against those rules. Delay Draft helps you build a Canada delay letter that you send. We do not file with the airline or the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) for you, and we are not a law firm.

This page is general information. Whether the APPR applies—and what, if anything, an airline owes—depends on your itinerary, carrier size category, delay length, and the cause of the disruption. Delay Draft does not promise compensation, refunds, or approvals.

What the APPR covers (plain language)

The APPR (SOR/2019-150, as amended) generally applies to flights to, from, and within Canada, including many connecting itineraries, on applicable Canadian and foreign carriers. Always check your ticket against current CTA guidance; rules and proposed updates can change over time.

Passengers often look at the APPR after:

A long tarmac or gate delay
A cancellation
Denied boarding
A missed connection caused by an earlier delay on the same ticket

Cross-border trips may also involve other countries’ rules (for example US DOT refund rules on some US–Canada flights). Those frameworks are separate. See Canada APPR hub for a fuller Canada hub overview.

Standards of treatment vs. compensation categories

The APPR separates standards of treatment (care) from compensation categories. In plain language:

Care can include food and drink after a waiting period, and hotel plus transport for overnight disruptions, when the rules say those duties apply—often tied to how much notice you received and whether the disruption was within the airline’s control (including some safety-related cases).
Rebooking or refund options may arise after certain controllable delays or cancellations, and in some outside-control situations under the refund amendments—again, fact-specific.
Minimum compensation amounts in the regulations apply only in defined situations (typically within the airline’s control and not required for safety, with notice timing and arrival-delay bands). Large and small carriers have different published minima. Whether those amounts apply to your flight depends on the cause and details—nothing here promises a payout.

Ask the airline to state the reason for the disruption in writing. Weather and air traffic control are often treated as outside the airline’s control for compensation purposes, though other remedies may still matter.

What to include in a written APPR request

A useful Canada APPR-style letter usually includes:

Full passenger names and contact email
Booking reference (PNR) and ticket numbers
Flight number(s), date, and airports (include each delayed leg on a connection)
Scheduled vs. actual departure and arrival times
How late you arrived at your final destination
Reason given by the airline (gate, app, or email)
Care offered; receipts for expenses you paid
Whether you were rebooked, refunded, or still waiting for a response
A clear ask: review under the APPR for care, refund/rebooking, and/or compensation as may apply

Attach boarding passes, delay notices, and receipts. Stay factual and dated.

Keeping copies and airline response timing

Keep copies of:

Everything you send the airline
Confirmation numbers or claim IDs
The airline’s reply (or proof that none arrived)

At a high level, passengers often note that compensation requests under the APPR are commonly expected within one year, and that airlines often have about 30 days to respond to certain requests—confirm current CTA wording for your situation. If the airline’s response is unsatisfactory or missing, the CTA publishes a passenger complaint process; that is a separate step you would take, not Delay Draft.

What Delay Draft does

Delay Draft helps you organize a clear letter from your flight details. You review it, attach your evidence, and send it to the airline yourself.

We are Delay Draft LLC (Texas). We are not a law firm, we do not give binding legal advice, and we do not guarantee that the APPR entitles you to any amount or that the airline will agree.

Typical site pricing: $9.99 (1–2 people) or $24.99 (3–6 people on one letter)—confirm at checkout. Questions about an order: claims@delaydraft.com.

Build your Canada delay letter

Build your Canada APPR-style delay letter at DelayDraft.com. You remain in control of the send—no promises of payouts or CTA outcomes.

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