ACTA Applauds Ontario Act Amendments

ACTA is applauding the Ontario government’s move to bring in “much needed” amendments to the Travel Industry Act, heeding “the years of lobbying and recommendations of ACTA and the industry by reducing the burden on registrants.”

ACTA president, Wendy Paradis commented: “ACTA has long awaited proposed amendments to the Ontario Travel Industry Act and we are very pleased to see many of the recommendations we advocated for.”

Paradis continued: “These changes will bring much needed relief to our travel agency members, including the removal of Audited Financial Statements and Review Engagement requirements for smaller registrants (under $2M) during this critical time.”

The association also welcomed the exemption under Section 46 which allows registrants to only provide a travel voucher or credit instead of a refund – and expanding the coverage under the Travel Industry Compensation Fund for consumer claims involving vouchers – and in the event of a registrant failure, to consider claims by consumers holding future travel vouchers to be eligible for claims on the Fund.

However, ACTA said that “glaringly missing from the amendments were any change to the funding model for the Consumer Compensation Fund.”

Said Paradis: “ACTA remains very concerned with the funding model of the Travel Industry Consumer Compensation Fund. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of the significantly inadequate Fund, and as such, ACTA will continue to lobby for recommended changes for the benefit of Ontario Travel Agencies, and the consumers they represent.”

Go to www.acta.ca for more.