Travel industry regulation is primarily geared towards consumer protection. Canadian travel industry regulation is dealt with on a province by province basis, and each province has taken a different approach to ensuring that the sale of travel services to consumers is done in a responsible manner.

TICO (ONTARIO)

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) is mandated by the Ontario government to administer the Travel Industry Act, 2002. All travel retailers and travel wholesalers selling travel services from a location in the Province of Ontario are required to be registered under the Travel Industry Act, 2002 with TICO. Selling travel services in and from the Province of Ontario without TICO registration is a contravention of the Act and could result in charges being laid. This also applies to anyone who has submitted a TICO Application for Registration which is pending approval from TICO.

Registered TICO agencies and websites provide additional consumer protection that may not be available when booking with agencies based in other countries or provinces. A few of these protections include the compensation fund, travel complaint resolution, education standards, and set financial requirements for travel agencies. However, in today’s world where much of the transactions rely on consumer credit cards, the TICO compensation fund is of limited use to consumers, particularly where there are not issues of fraud or misrepresentation by a TICO registered travel agent or travel wholesaler. TICO-registered agents are required to advise their clients of the information on insurance, documents, immunizations, and permissions including visas and passports that they will need to travel to their destination.

All registered travel retailers and travel wholesalers must meet requirements relating to financial criteria and provide full disclosure to consumers and meet advertising guidelines. Once registered, the licence must be renewed annually at the registrant’s fiscal year anniversary. Renewal fees are based on a registrant’s current annual sales volume and range from $300.00-$1800.00. An additional fee of $300.00 is required for each branch office.

TICO’s Registration process can take between two to eight weeks, once all of the appropriate documentation has been submitted. This timeframe may vary depending on how complete the application is and whether further documentation or information is required. YYZlaw has many years’ experience with the TICO application process. We guide our clients through the process by reviewing the application documents to ensure conformity prior to our filing with TICO.