Axe the Travel Tax

Flying is one of the most heavily taxed activities in Canada.

When you book an airline ticket, the amount charged by the airline is only a portion of the total cost. Canadian travellers also get hit with airport improvement fees, security fees, federal taxes, provincial taxes, the HST, plus any international fees and taxes that apply, depending on where you are going. There are also additional charges and taxes that inflate ticket prices, such as airport “rent” taxes, navigation fees and jet fuel taxes for the planes.

It’s no wonder a recent Senate report found that Toronto Pearson airport is the most expensive place in the world to land a plane!

And it’s not surprising that an estimated five million Canadians cross the border each year to fly from US airports, rather than their local Canadian airport. You can imagine all the lost business opportunities that go along with those five million Canadians – from hotels and the tourism business, to manufacturers and maintenance shops. Canadians are losing out because of these high taxes.

It is shocking; therefore, that Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne would decide to slap a new travel tax on flying. The 2014 Ontario budget announced a surprise 148 per cent tax hike on jet fuel for international flights.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says enough is enough. We are calling on the government of Ontario to scrap the tax hike, and to follow British Columbia’s lead by eliminating this travel tax altogether.

Axe the Travel Tax