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When must passengers be offered a chance to leave a plane during a tarmac delay in Canada?

At an airport in Canada, the APPR normally requires an opportunity to get off after three hours from door closure for takeoff or from landing. There is a limited imminent-takeoff exception, not a general permission to keep everyone aboard indefinitely. Onboard care and urgent medical assistance have their own requirements.

Traveler organizing trip records and next steps after a flight disruption

What this answer depends on

  • Travel within the applicable APPR scope, including the ticketed journey and the event-specific conditions. The consolidated source displays current-through 2026-07-21; check for later changes.
  • The normal Canadian deplaning points are 3 hours after the aircraft doors close for takeoff and 3 hours after landing, or earlier after landing when feasible.
  • The carrier can use the imminent-takeoff exception only when takeoff is likely less than 3 hours 45 minutes after door closure or landing and it can continue the section 8 standards of treatment.
  • Section 8 addresses working lavatories where fitted, ventilation and temperature, feasible outside communication, reasonable food and drink, and access to urgent medical assistance. Feasible priority deplaning applies to passengers with disabilities and their accompanying support person or animal.
  • The deplaning requirement has exceptions when an opportunity to disembark is not possible, including safety, security, air-traffic or customs-control reasons.

Important exceptions

  • The location requirement matters: do not apply the Canadian airport deplaning clock to an aircraft waiting at a US or European airport. Nor does a tarmac complaint by itself establish a fixed compensation amount. The consolidated APPR text reviewed must be rechecked for post-consolidation changes.

What to do next

  1. Note when the doors closed or the flight landed. Keep that timestamp separate from the scheduled departure and from a later announcement about the delay.

  2. Tell the cabin crew promptly about a medical or accessibility need. Do not wait for a time threshold before asking for urgent help, and follow crew safety instructions.

  3. As the deplaning point approaches, ask whether an opportunity to leave is planned or whether the carrier is applying a specific exception. Record the explanation without obstructing the crew.

  4. Afterward, put the timeline, care requests and responses in a written complaint. Describe what actually happened rather than treating the elapsed time alone as proof of every claimed breach.

  5. Keep the airport, flight and date, door-closure or landing time, announcements, assistance requests, deplaning time and any explanation of an exception.

More booking questions

Does the exception add forty-five minutes to every delay?

No. It depends on likely takeoff within the stated limit and continued care.

Checked againstAir Passenger Protection Regulations, SOR/2019-150

Should I leave without crew permission when the clock expires?

No. Ask the crew about the required opportunity and follow safe disembarkation instructions.

Checked againstAir Passenger Protection Regulations, SOR/2019-150

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