Air Canada will begin charging carry-on bag fees to some customers in the new year.

Starting on January 3rd, Air Canada passengers purchasing basic fare tickets for North American and ‘sun‘ destinations like Cancún, Grenada and Montego Bay, will have to pay an additional carry-on fee of $35 for their first bag and $50 for their second. The airline will only allow you to bring “small” personal items like a purse or computer bag for free. Additionally, basic fare tickets will be charged for seat selection changes at check-in effective January 21st.

Air Canada says these changes are similar to ticket options from other Canadian airlines and help “better distinguish its fare brands.” Air Canada’s other fare options are Standard, Flex, Comfort, Latitude, Premium Economy and Business Class.

In terms of other major Canadian airlines, meanwhile, WestJet has an ‘UltraBasic’ fare that similarly only allows a small personal item while requiring a fee for seat selection. Discount carrier Flair, for its part, always charges between $29 and $74 for carry-ons, depending on the size of the item.

But of course, Air Canada is the country’s leading airline by far, which means any changes it makes will affect far more people than its competitors. To that point, Transport Minister Anita Anand criticized Air Canada for the move and said she will be calling a meeting later this month with Canadian airline CEOs.

“Let’s just say I’m not very happy today with what I’ve heard from Air Canada,” Anand told CTV Power Play host Vassy Kapelos on Wednesday. “I think they need to take a look at the persons that they are targeting with these excess fees. It is not acceptable.”

Interestingly, Air Canada’s announcement comes alongside a new 2024 ranking from AirHelp, an online service that provides assistance for passengers looking for compensation from airlines. In it, AirHelp looked at customer satisfaction towards 100 global airlines based on a variety of factors and found that Air Canada was just 91st. While customers reported an overall high opinion of Air Canada, many dinged the airline for its handling of on-time performance and processing of claims.

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Source: Air Canada Via: CBC