What you are entitled to if your baggage is delayed
If an airline delays your checked bag, you can claim the reasonable expenses the delay caused you, up to a legal limit. That usually means the toiletries, clothing and other essentials you had to buy while you waited.
This is not a fixed payment. Unlike the $400, $700 or $1,000 that large airlines pay as APPR delay compensation for a late flight, delayed baggage compensation reimburses loss you can prove. You claim what you actually spent, and you must show that the delay caused it.
Which law applies depends on your trip:
- International flights. The Montreal Convention applies. It is part of Canadian law through the Carriage by Air Act. Article 19 makes the airline liable for damage caused by delay in the carriage of baggage.
- Flights within Canada. The airline's tariff applies. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) says that on a domestic itinerary, "your rights are outlined in the airline's tariff."
The APPR also has a rule for bags delayed 21 days or less, in section 23(2). It is still printed on Justice Laws, but the Federal Court of Appeal declared it invalid in 2022. It held that Parliament authorized the CTA to regulate compensation for lost or damaged baggage, not delayed baggage. That ruling applies to both domestic and international flights. A regulation stays in print until the government amends it, even after a court declares it invalid.
This does not leave you without a claim. International delayed baggage is still covered by the Montreal Convention. Domestic delayed baggage is governed by the airline's tariff.
In 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the challenged APPR flight-disruption compensation rules. The separate ruling that struck down section 23(2) remained in place.
The airline's defence on a delayed bag is narrow. Under Article 19, it avoids liability only if it proves that it, and its servants and agents, took all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damage, or that such measures were impossible. Mejias Turmero v. Air Canada, 2025 FC 673, was a passenger delay case, not a baggage case. We use it because it applies Article 19. The Federal Court placed the burden on the airline and found Air Canada had not met it. It also shows how a passenger proves losses.
How much compensation you can get: the 1,519 SDR limit
The maximum is 1,519 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) per passenger. That was roughly C$2,900 in late 2026, but 1,519 SDR is the actual legal limit. That limit has applied since 28 December 2024, when the International Civil Aviation Organization raised it from 1,288 SDR.
The SDR is a basket of currencies set by the International Monetary Fund, so the Canadian dollar value moves with exchange rates. For a flight before 28 December 2024, the old limit of 1,288 SDR applies.
The limit covers destruction, loss, damage and delay of baggage together. It is a ceiling, not an entitlement. You recover what you prove, up to the limit.
If you declared a higher value for your bag at check-in and paid any supplementary charge the airline asked for, the limit can be higher. Few passengers do this.
Air Canada's Conditions of Carriage apply the same 1,519 SDR limit to domestic itineraries within Canada. Check the tariff in force on your travel date. Tariff wording changes.
What purchases count as "reasonable expenses"
Reasonable expenses are purchases the delay made necessary, in an amount that fits the circumstances. Essentials you would have had in your bag usually qualify. Toiletries, a change of clothes, basic items for children, and medication replacements are the common examples.
The link to the delay is the point most often argued. Air Canada v. Tannous, 2025 FC 1872, shows why.
Two passengers flew Toronto to Vancouver on 25 May 2022. Their bag arrived at their hotel the next morning at 9:15 am. They claimed $3,561.26. A CTA Complaint Resolution Officer awarded $2,079.72, which was the 1,288 SDR limit converted to $2,329.72, less the $250 Air Canada had already paid.
The Federal Court set that award aside. The record showed $1,744.01 in purchases made after the bag arrived, including a $1,310.40 luggage purchase two days later. The officer never explained why those purchases were caused by the delay. Excluding them would have left $1,691.98, below the limit. The Court sent the claim back to a different officer for reconsideration.
The lessons for your claim are practical:
- Buy what you need to get by, not replacements for everything in the bag.
- Stop buying once the bag is back, unless you can explain why a later purchase was still caused by the delay.
- Keep itemized receipts. In Mejias, the passenger delay case above, the court allowed receipted costs and refused USD 925.50 of estimates with no receipts.
- Write a short note for each purchase saying why you needed it before the bag arrived.
The circumstances of the trip can affect whether a purchase was reasonable. In Tannous, the officer accepted that the passengers needed to buy necessities at the start of their trip. Be ready to explain why each purchase was reasonable in your situation.
Deadlines: 21 days in writing, 2 years to sue
For an international flight, you must complain to the airline in writing within 21 days from the date the bag was placed at your disposal. This is Article 31 of the Montreal Convention. If you miss it, Article 31(4) says no action lies against the carrier, except in the case of fraud.
The deadline runs from the day you get the bag back, not the day of your flight. Do not wait for the airline to tell you the deadline.
For a flight within Canada, the CTA says to complain as soon as possible and no later than the time limit in the airline's tariff. Air Canada and WestJet both ask for delayed baggage expenses within 21 days.
To sue, you have two years under Article 35. The period runs from the date of arrival at the destination, the date the aircraft ought to have arrived, or the date the carriage stopped. Treat the two years as a hard outside deadline. The Convention says the right to damages is extinguished if an action is not brought within that time.
Do not assume that a CTA complaint preserves a separate court claim while the CTA process is ongoing. If you may want to go to court, get advice before the two years run out.
Other deadlines matter too. Report the missing bag at the airport before you leave, and get the report number. WestJet asks for a baggage report within 12 hours of arrival.
How to claim: airline first, then CTA or court
Start with the airline. Every forum expects that step, and the CTA will not accept a complaint until you have given the airline a written complaint and 30 days to respond.
- At the airport. Report the missing bag at the baggage office before you leave. Get the Property Irregularity Report (PIR) or baggage report number. Photograph your bag tags.
- While you wait. Buy only what you need. Keep every receipt.
- When the bag arrives. Write down the date and time it was delivered. Photograph it if it is damaged. Damage has its own 7-day deadline.
- Within 21 days of getting the bag back. Submit your written claim with the receipts, the report number and a short list of what you bought and why. Ask for a refund of any checked baggage fee as well. For a delayed bag, that refund comes from the airline's own policy or tariff, not the APPR. Air Canada and WestJet both currently provide it. Keep a copy of everything you send and proof of when the airline received it.
We recommend a written claim you can prove. Where the airline requires its online form, use it, but take screenshots before you submit and save the confirmation.
What to do if the airline refuses or offers less
Ask the airline, in writing, for its reasons. A partial payment is common. In Tannous, Air Canada first paid $250 of a $3,561.26 claim.
If you think the offer is too low, check two things. First, whether each receipt shows a purchase the delay caused. Second, whether the airline has named a real defence under Article 19 or its tariff.
Then send a formal demand. Our demand letter template sets out the claim, the law and a deadline to pay.
If the airline still refuses, you have two routes:
- A CTA complaint. It is free, but the CTA says it can take more than 24 months before a complaint is reviewed.
- A tribunal or small claims court. In British Columbia, the Civil Resolution Tribunal has heard baggage claims, including Hui v. Air Canada, 2026 BCCRT 45, under the Montreal Convention. Other provinces have their own small claims courts. See taking an airline to small claims court.
If your bag never arrives, the claim changes. After 21 days, see our lost baggage compensation guide.