Registrar Bulletin: Reminder - Registrant requirements for issuing travel vouchers/future travel credits
March 20, 2023
At the start of the pandemic, temporary and permanent regulatory changes were made to the Travel Industry Act, 2002 to respond to the impact of COVID-19 on registrants and certain travellers. In February 2022, the regulation was amended to extend some temporary changes.
Registrants’ choice to issue travel vouchers/credits expires on April 1, 2023
Since March 30, 2020, registrants who acquired the rights to travel services for resale could choose to offer customers a voucher/credit, certificate, coupon or similar document if a supplier (e.g., airline or cruise line) failed to provide a travel service due to COVID-19.
This was a temporary, time-limited regulatory amendment that recognized the significant hardship that providing a cash refund would impose on some registrants, given the pandemic’s impact on the industry, while ensuring consumers were protected. On April 1, 2023, this temporary regulatory amendment will expire.
Registrants’ voucher/credit obligations as of April 1, 2023
As of April 1, 2023, registrants’ obligations will revert to the regulatory requirement that was in place prior to the pandemic. A voucher/credit, certificate, coupon or similar document for future travel services can only be offered if it is acceptable to the customer.
Further, registrants who acquire the rights to travel services for resale, and experience a situation where a supplier (e.g., airline or cruise line) fails to provide the travel services, must provide one of the following options to the customer:
- A refund;
- Comparable alternate travel service – as long as it is acceptable to the customer; or
- A voucher/credit or similar document – as long as it is acceptable to the customer.
This applies to registrants with contractual obligations for travel services and where a registrant has engaged suppliers to bundle multiple travel services, which are advertised and sold to either other registrants or customers for a single price.
For more details, please see Section 46 of Ontario Regulation 26/05.
Questions?
Please contact TICO’s Compliance Department at
Richard Smart
Registrar, Travel Industry Act, 2002