The Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) issued a rare formal advisory on 24 February, telling the province’s 2,400 registered travel agencies and tour operators to “refresh their statutory obligations” as violence in Mexico continues to unsettle Canadian itineraries. The regulator emphasised that under Section 40 of Ontario Regulation 26/05, agencies must warn clients of changing safety conditions, offer timely notice of schedule alterations of more than 24 hours, and process full refunds when a supplier cannot deliver contracted services. TICO chief executive Richard Smart called the episode “a textbook stress-test for consumer-protection rules,” noting that some agents were slow to re-issue invoices reflecting airline schedule swaps or to notify travellers that resort shuttles were suspended. The advisory walks agents through the nuanced differences between Ontario’s package-travel refund rules and the federal APPR regime that governs air-only bookings. It also urges registrants to monitor real-time updates from airlines and Global Affairs Canada, and to remind clients to register with the ‘Canadians Abroad’ portal.
![TICO Reminds Ontario Travel Agents of Legal Duties Amid Mexico Disruptions]()
VisaHQ can further streamline risk-management for both leisure travellers and corporate mobility teams by handling urgent visa and travel-document requirements online. Through its Canada portal (https://www.visahq.com/canada/), the platform offers real-time status tracking, embassy update feeds and concierge support that dovetail with TICO’s disclosure and documentation mandates, ensuring that itineraries disrupted by sudden security changes can be re-routed without paperwork delays.
From a corporate-mobility standpoint, the bulletin is a timely reminder that travel-management companies (TMCs) based in Ontario are subject to provincial disclosure and refund rules even when servicing multinational clients. Failure to comply can trigger fines of up to CAD 25,000 for a corporation and CAD 5,000 for individual counsellors, plus possible licence suspension. In-house mobility teams should therefore confirm that their TMCs have cascaded the advisory to frontline agents and adjusted scripts and documentation templates accordingly. TICO’s notice also highlights insurance pitfalls. Many policies exclude civil unrest unless a formal government advisory is in effect; as Ottawa downgraded its language on 24 February, coverage parameters shifted within hours. Agents must re-check policy wordings before promising trip-cancellation benefits, and corporations should review whether their blanket travel-insurance programmes include “difference-in-conditions” clauses that fill such gaps.
VisaHQ can further streamline risk-management for both leisure travellers and corporate mobility teams by handling urgent visa and travel-document requirements online. Through its Canada portal (https://www.visahq.com/canada/), the platform offers real-time status tracking, embassy update feeds and concierge support that dovetail with TICO’s disclosure and documentation mandates, ensuring that itineraries disrupted by sudden security changes can be re-routed without paperwork delays.
From a corporate-mobility standpoint, the bulletin is a timely reminder that travel-management companies (TMCs) based in Ontario are subject to provincial disclosure and refund rules even when servicing multinational clients. Failure to comply can trigger fines of up to CAD 25,000 for a corporation and CAD 5,000 for individual counsellors, plus possible licence suspension. In-house mobility teams should therefore confirm that their TMCs have cascaded the advisory to frontline agents and adjusted scripts and documentation templates accordingly. TICO’s notice also highlights insurance pitfalls. Many policies exclude civil unrest unless a formal government advisory is in effect; as Ottawa downgraded its language on 24 February, coverage parameters shifted within hours. Agents must re-check policy wordings before promising trip-cancellation benefits, and corporations should review whether their blanket travel-insurance programmes include “difference-in-conditions” clauses that fill such gaps.
