In the middle of the summer, demand for shuttle services is increasing and, as a result, requests for subscription licenses. In fact, the Regulation respecting bus transportation states that:

33. The holder of a license for the subscription transportation service is authorized to provide a clientele indicated in his license a regular transportation service for the exercise of common activities of this clientele to places indicated in his license.

34. Where the applicant for a subscription transportation license is bound by contract with a business or organization for the establishment of such a service, he shall provide the Commission with a copy of that contract at the time of the permit application.

Thus, when the transportation service meets this definition, for example most shuttle services for day camps, the carrier must complete the form "Application for a permit by subscription" and file it with the Commission des transports du Québec ("CTQ").

An application for a regular permit (5 years) must be the subject of the publication of a notice, whereas a request for a temporary permit does not have to be the object of such publication. However, to be the subject of an application for a temporary permit, the latter must meet one of the following conditions:

• The special permit of less than 1 year is issued to respond to an emergency situation when no licensee is able to provide the required services. This request requires an explanatory document of the emergency evidence; or
• The license of less than 60 days is issued to respond to a particular situation and requires a document explaining the particular situation; or
• The temporary permit of a maximum of 45 days is issued to respond to an exceptional and unpredictable emergency and requires a document demonstrating the evidence of exceptional and unpredictable urgency.

Recently, a carrier filed an application for a "Temporary bus transportation license, subscription-based, for a maximum of 45 days". As part of this request, this carrier alleged that:

"We ask the Transport Commission to consider this request as urgent because we realized that it was necessary to apply for a permit by subscription for the contract obtained with [the client] for whom the contract begins on June 1, 2019."

With the exception of this allegation, the CTQ notes that no other exceptional and unforeseeable emergency evidence is made by the carrier.

The CTQ deduces that the urgency of processing the license application stems from the carrier's mistake regarding the need to obtain a license by subscription. It adds that an undertaking which has been operating in the field of passenger transport for several years can not fail to recognize that such a request involves delays, if only to ensure the publication of the request and the 10-day period which oppositions may be filed. The CTQ ruled that the application should be rejected by submitting that:

"[20] To grant the present application would be to recognize as exceptional and unpredictable evidence of urgency the delay due to the ignorance or the lack of diligence of a carrier in the filing of his license application. This is not the objective pursued by the legislator. The Commission can not be an exception in this case. "[1]

This article is a reminder of the importance to be given to deadlines.

For additional questions or support requests, please contact the Legal Services Branch at legal@federationautobus.com or by phone at 418-476-8181 ext. 214.