Thank you, and good afternoon, Madam Chair.
My name is Neil Parry. I am vice-president of service delivery at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, also known as CATSA. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.
As many of you know, CATSA is an agent crown corporation, funded by parliamentary appropriations and accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Transport. CATSA is responsible for taking actions, either directly or through a screening contractor, for the effective and efficient screening of persons who access aircraft or restricted areas through screening points. Also, the property in their possession is controlled, as well as the belongings or baggage that they give to an air carrier for transportation.
CATSA, as the civil aviation security screening authority for Canada, is regulated by Transport Canada and is the designated national civil aviation security authority. CATSA is subject to domestic legislation, regulations, and procedures in the way that it conducts its business and screening. In this context, CATSA's mandate outlines four core responsibilities within the realm of aviation security: pre-board screening of passengers, screening of hold baggage or checked baggage, the screening of non-passengers, and the restricted area identity card program.
Given the nature of today's meeting examining Bill C-49, the transportation modernization act, my remarks will focus on the amendment associated with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authorization Act. Specifically, this relates to the cost recovery of security screening operations in airports across Canada.
Bill C-49 contains two changes to the CATSA act. These changes would formalize policy authority for cost recovery initiatives for designated airports that strive for expedited passenger screening and cost recovery for non-designated airports. These services would normally be beyond CATSA's mandate and would require authorization from the Minister of Transport.
Under the direction of Transport Canada, CATSA has undertaken two trials on cost recovery to date. In 2014, the Greater Toronto Airport Authority sought the approval of the Minister of Transport to purchase additional screening capacity directly from CATSA for pre-board screening operations. CATSA and the GTAA subsequently entered into an agreement, following authorization from the minister, that allowed us to effectively sell them additional screening hours. A similar trial agreement was entered into in June of this year, between CATSA and the Vancouver Airport Authority, for the same thing.
In 2015, Transport Canada amended regulations to allow non-designated airports to enter into cost recovery agreements with CATSA for the purpose of attracting new commercial routes and potentially enhancing economic development. These airports must meet the same requirements as a class 3 airport within Canada. To date, CATSA has entered into consultations and discussions with 12 non-designated airports and while the discussions have been productive, no agreements have been signed.
With those introductory remarks, I thank the committee. I would be happy to answer any questions related to the subject.