OTTAWA — A free-market think tank is warning Canadian air travellers to expect higher ticket prices if proposed changes to passenger compensation rules are implemented.

Researchers with the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) say that the beefed up passenger protection rules may look good on paper but will just place more hardship on an already overregulated airline sector.

“Air travel in Canada is already unaffordable and inaccessible,” says Gabriel Giguère, senior public policy analyst at the MEI. “New rules that force airlines to cover costs they can’t control would only make a bad situation worse.”

Giguère is the author of a new research note analyzing proposed amendments to federal Air Passenger Protection Regulations released in late 2024.

He told National Post that the new rules

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