Under a provisional EU deal reached on 15 June 2026, airlines would have to pay the full cost of replacing or repairing lost or damaged mobility equipment, but the rules are not in force yet. In Canada, claims above the Montreal Convention cap rely on a special declaration of interest, not an automatic guarantee.
For anyone who flies with a wheelchair or scooter, the fear is familiar. You hand over the piece of equipment your day depends on, watch it disappear down the ramp, and hope it comes back whole. When it does not, the compensation has often fallen far short of what a replacement actually costs.
Europe just agreed to change that. On 15 June 2026, the EU institutions reached a provisional deal on a revised air passenger rights regulation, and the European Disability Forum called the mobility-equipment provisions a genuine win. Here is what the deal promises, and where Canadian rules currently stand by comparison.
What Europe agreed
The headline change is about who pays when equipment is broken. Under the deal, airlines would be required to pay the full cost of replacing or repairing lost or damaged mobility equipment. That matters because, as the European Disability Forum explains, the current law caps legal liability at around 3,000 euros, “far short of the real cost for repairing and replacing most wheelchairs and other mobility equipment.” A custom power chair can run several times that.
The agreed text goes further than the replacement cost alone. According to the European Disability Forum, it includes:
- an obligation for airlines to provide a temporary replacement at no cost while a person’s own equipment is lost or being repaired
- compensation for injured assistance dogs
- a right to compensation and rerouting when a passenger with a disability misses a flight because assistance was missing or delayed
- the ability for a passenger with a disability to sit with their accompanying person at no extra charge
The Forum lists three of its demands as unmet: to “clearly prohibit denial of boarding on the grounds of disability”, to uphold the right to travel without needing approval in advance, meaning no prenotification requirements, and to “ensure the mutual recognition of assistance dogs throughout the EU.” That last one is worth holding beside the win on injured assistance dogs: the money is covered, the cross-border recognition is not. The Forum also points to its own 9th Human Rights Report, Rights Delayed: Air Travel for Passengers with Disabilities, which it says shows nearly 7 in 10 people with disabilities consider they are discriminated against when flying. That is a European figure about European air travel, not a Canadian one.
The catch: it is not in force yet
This is now a law on its way, but not yet one you can rely on at the gate. The European Parliament approved the deal, and on 13 July 2026 the Council of the EU gave its final green light, formally adopting the legislative act. The Council’s press release states the timeline in one sentence: “The updated air passenger rules will enter into force 12 months and 20 days after the publication in the Official Journal.” It does not give a publication date, so the day these rules actually bite is not yet fixed, and on that clock it falls no earlier than the second half of 2027. It is not something a traveller can invoke today.
Where Canada stands
Canada is not starting from nothing here, and it is worth being precise about the gap.
For international flights, airline liability for baggage, including checked mobility aids, runs through the Montreal Convention, which Canadian law incorporates through the Carriage by Air Act. The Canadian Transportation Agency sets out the current limits: effective 28 December 2024, liability for destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage is capped at 1,519 special drawing rights per passenger under Article 22(2). A special drawing right is an International Monetary Fund unit rather than a currency, so its value in Canadian dollars moves daily; the Agency’s page is the place to check what the cap is worth on the day you need it. The limits are reviewed by the International Civil Aviation Organization every five years for inflation, and 28 December 2024 was the last such review. That is the same style of cap Europe is now lifting for mobility equipment.
Canada does layer extra protection on top through the Canadian Transportation Agency, and its wording is stronger than a summary suggests. Under the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations, as the Agency’s own guide puts it, carriers must, “without delay and at their own expense”, take a set of measures when a checked mobility aid is damaged, destroyed, lost or not returned on time. Those measures are a temporary replacement aid that meets the passenger’s needs, kept until the aid is returned, repaired, replaced or reimbursed; reimbursement of expenses incurred because of the damage or loss; and repair of a damaged aid, or, if it cannot be adequately repaired, replacement “with the same model or, if that is not available, with a model that meets the passenger’s needs and has features and qualities equivalent to those of the damaged aid”, or reimbursement of the full replacement cost. For air travel, an aid is treated as lost 96 hours after arrival. The Air Passenger Protection Regulations also extend Montreal-style liability to domestic flights, the Agency’s baggage provisions having come into effect on 15 July 2019 and applying the Convention’s limits to domestic services.
The practical difference is where the ceiling sits, and how you get above it. To be compensated above the Montreal cap on an international trip, the mechanism is a special declaration of interest, which sets out the monetary value of the aid and a description of its identifying features. One point the Agency makes is easy to miss and worth knowing: when someone booking an international flight wants to travel with their mobility aid, the airline “must advise them of the option to make a special declaration of interest.” It is the airline’s duty to raise it, not only the passenger’s to remember it. Europe’s agreed rule takes a different route to the same place, making full replacement the default rather than something switched on by a declaration. That is the “win Canada does not have yet”: not the absence of any protection, but the absence of an automatic, cap-free guarantee in the regulations themselves. Individual carriers may go further. In Determination No. A-2022-10 the Canadian Transportation Agency recorded that the Air Canada and Jazz Aviation international tariffs waive the normal carrier limit of liability for substantiated mobility aid claims and reimburse on the cost of repair or replacement value.
What this means for a Canadian traveller now
Until the rules change here, a few steps from the Canadian Transportation Agency’s own guidance carry real weight:
- On international trips, the airline must tell you about the special declaration of interest option when you book with a mobility aid. Where it does not come up, the Agency’s rule is that an airline must permit the declaration at any time before the aid is removed for storage in the aircraft’s baggage compartment, and if it is not made in that window the Convention limit applies.
- Document your equipment before travel: model, serial number, purchase cost, and photos from several angles. A repair or replacement claim is only as strong as the record behind it.
- Know that carriers must act “without delay and at their own expense”, providing a temporary replacement aid that meets your needs and covering repair, replacement or full reimbursement, so ask for that in writing if equipment comes off the plane damaged. In air travel an aid is treated as lost 96 hours after arrival, which is the point the replacement obligation attaches rather than the return one.
- If an airline does not meet its obligations, the Canadian Transportation Agency handles accessibility complaints against carriers, and our guide walks through how to file one.
Europe’s move sets a marker for what stronger protection looks like. Whether Canada follows, and closes the gap between a declared-value system and an automatic full-replacement guarantee, is the thing to watch.
Frequently asked questions
What did the EU agree about airline liability for damaged wheelchairs?
On 15 June 2026 the EU institutions reached a provisional deal on a revised air passenger rights regulation, and the Council of the EU gave its final green light on 13 July 2026. Under the deal, airlines would be required to pay the full cost of replacing or repairing lost or damaged mobility equipment, where the current law caps liability at around 3,000 euros. According to the European Disability Forum, the text also requires a temporary replacement at no cost while a person’s own equipment is lost or being repaired, compensation for injured assistance dogs, compensation and rerouting if assistance was missing or delayed and a passenger misses a flight, and the right to sit with an accompanying person at no extra charge.
When will the new EU air passenger rules take effect?
The Council says the updated rules enter into force 12 months and 20 days after publication in the Official Journal. It has not given a publication date, so on that clock the rules fall no earlier than the second half of 2027. They are not something a traveller can invoke today.
What does the EU deal still leave out for passengers with disabilities?
The European Disability Forum lists three of its demands as unmet. It wanted a clear prohibition on denial of boarding on the grounds of disability, the right to travel without needing approval in advance, meaning no prenotification requirements, and mutual recognition of assistance dogs throughout the EU. The money for an injured assistance dog is covered, but the cross-border recognition is not.
What protection do Canadian rules give for a damaged mobility aid on a flight?
On international flights, liability for baggage including checked mobility aids runs through the Montreal Convention, and the Canadian Transportation Agency says the cap is 1,519 special drawing rights per passenger, effective 28 December 2024. On top of that, the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations require carriers, without delay and at their own expense, to provide a temporary replacement aid, reimburse related expenses, and repair the aid or replace it with an equivalent model or reimburse the full replacement cost. In air travel an aid is treated as lost 96 hours after arrival.
How can you be compensated above the Montreal Convention cap on an international trip?
The mechanism is a special declaration of interest, which sets out the monetary value of the aid and a description of its identifying features. The Canadian Transportation Agency says the airline must tell you about this option when you book with a mobility aid, and must permit the declaration at any time before the aid is removed for storage in the aircraft’s baggage compartment. If it is not made in that window, the Convention limit applies. This is general information, not legal advice, and for a complaint about a specific flight you can contact the Canadian Transportation Agency.
Sources
- European Disability Forum, New air passenger rights regulation: big wins for persons with disabilities
- Council of the EU, Council and Parliament reach landmark agreement on stronger EU air passenger rights
- Council of the EU, Council gives final clearance for stronger air passenger rights (13 July 2026)
- Canadian Transportation Agency, Travelling with Mobility Aids and other Assistive Devices: A Guide
- Canadian Transportation Agency, Notification to air carriers of upward revision of the limits of liability governed by the Montreal Convention, for the 1,519 SDR baggage limit effective 28 December 2024
- Canadian Transportation Agency, Limits of liability for passengers and goods, for the 15 July 2019 APPR baggage provisions
- Canadian Transportation Agency, Air Passenger Protection Regulations Highlights
Living Unlimited shares information, not legal advice. For a complaint about a specific flight, contact the Canadian Transportation Agency.
