Canadian North announced upcoming changes to its passenger and cargo fare structure, for travel and shipping that will occur after Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020. These changes will be implemented in conjunction with the start of Canadian North’s new medical and duty travel contract with the Government of Nunavut. Canadian North is now in the process of filing its new pricing, which will be completed gradually over the coming days.
Published passenger fares
Canadian North will now offer a new ‘economy’ fare class that will be publicly available for travel to, from and within Nunavut and priced lower than its current lowest available fares. While economy fares will be available for advance purchase on all Nunavut routes year-round, they will not be available on every flight or date. Instead, more seats for economy fares will typically be available on less busy flights and travel dates.
Economy fares will be offered in conjunction with Canadian North’s existing ‘everyday’ saver, flex and super-flex fare classes, which will provide additional features such as enhanced checked baggage allowances, reduced or complimentary change fees, refundability and the ability to earn additional Aurora Rewards points and Aeroplan Miles. These fares will be restructured to provide an overall average lower price.
Canadian North will also continue to offer periodic seat sales, provide specialized fares for tourism operators and groups and lend its support to important events and initiatives throughout its network.
Beneficiary fares
Beginning Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020, Canadian North will expand its popular Ilak Fares program to include enrolled beneficiaries of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA). As a result, IFA beneficiaries will now enjoy access to the same lower-priced fares that beneficiaries of other Inuit Land Claims Agreements currently enjoy. Because Ilak Fares are priced lower than Canadian North’s existing Pivut Fares program, it will discontinue the Pivut program in favour of the newly expanded Ilak program, retaining the Pivut name for the Western Arctic.
- For IFA beneficiaries, it will be known as the Pivut program (with identical attributes to the Ilak program).
- For beneficiaries of other Inuit Land Claims Agreements, it will continue to be known as Ilak program.
At the same time, Canadian North will significantly increase the number of Ilak/Pivut seats on its Montréal-Kuujjuaq and Mackenzie Valley flights for beneficiaries travelling on those routes, with seats also available on all other flights within its network.
Corporate passenger agreements
Canadian North’s corporate clients will also have access to the new economy passenger fares, subject to the same rules and restrictions. At the same time that Canadian North is implementing this new structure, it will also implement an inflationary increase to its high-end pricing that is typically offered for last-seat availability and last-minute bookings. The base portion of these fares will be increased by five per cent for the Iqaluit-Ottawa market and by two per cent for all other Nunavut markets. Canadian North’s legacy corporate fares which are structured as a discount off these fares or are in the same category will also receive this inflationary increase.
During the first half of 2020, Canadian North will introduce a corporate discount structure that provides a new discount off of its new publicly-available pricing. Discounts provided will be based on travel volumes and will be reviewed regularly.
Published cargo rates
As part of the Government of Nunavut contract, Canadian North will update its publicly-available general and envelope rates for all Nunavut markets. It will also update its priority cargo rate, which will be priced 30 per cent above its new general rate.
Corporate cargo agreements
Legacy corporate cargo agreements will continue to apply for the time being; however, Canadian North does expect to implement an inflationary rate increase in early 2020, similar to the increase implemented for corporate passenger fares. Later in 2020, it expects to transition to a new volume-based corporate cargo program.
Variable fuel surcharge applicable to passenger and cargo products
As part of the above changes, the applicable fuel surcharge will be bundled into the overall price rather than shown separately. Canadian North will review fuel surcharges quarterly and adjust them as required.
“The launch of our new, lower-priced Economy fares within Nunavut and updates to our popular Ilak and Pivut fares programs on Nunavik and Mackenzie Valley routes represent important steps within our ongoing integration journey,” said Chris Avery, president and CEO of Canadian North. “We will continue to listen closely to feedback from our customers and stakeholders to ensure that we are offering the right product mix to meet the essential needs of everyone we serve.”
