Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
Raison d'être
The Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board, commonly referred to as the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) in its day-to-day activities, is an independent agency created in 1990 by an Act of Parliament. TSB operates at arm’s length from other government departments and agencies to ensure that there are no real or perceived conflicts of interest. The TSB’s sole objective is to advance air, marine, pipeline and rail transportation safety.
The President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada is the designated minister for the purposes of tabling the TSB’s administrative reports in Parliament, such as the Departmental Planand theDepartmental Results Report. The TSB is part of the Privy Council portfolio of departments and agencies.
Mandate and role
The TSB's mandate—as described in the Act that governs its work—is to advance safety in air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation by
- conducting independent investigations, including public inquiries when necessary, into selected transportation occurrences, in order to make findings regarding their causes and contributing factors;
- identifying safety deficiencies, as evidenced by transportation occurrences;
- making recommendations designed to eliminate or reduce such safety deficiencies; and
- reporting publicly on our investigations and findings in relation thereto.
While it is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability, the Board reports fully on the causes and contributing factors of an occurrence, even in cases where fault or liability might be inferred from the Board's findings. Findings of the Board are not binding on the parties to any legal, disciplinary, or other proceedings.
To instill public confidence in the TSB, it is essential that the agency be free of any conflict of interest when investigating accidents, identifying safety deficiencies, and making recommendations. That is why the TSB is independent and separate from other government departments. It currently reports to Parliament through the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.