Travel Agency Website Design in Canada: The TICO and Licensing Rules That Decide What Your Site Can Say

By Cody Wise, founder of Wise Media. We build websites for regulated Canadian businesses. This article summarises publicly available regulator guidance as of November 2026 and is not legal advice. Travel registration rules differ by province and change. Confirm your own obligations with your regulator or counsel before publishing.

Summary

• Three provinces license travel sellers: Ontario (TICO), British Columbia (Consumer Protection BC) and Quebec (Office de la protection du consommateur). The rest of Canada does not have a dedicated travel registration regime.
• Ontario is the strictest on websites. TICO’s regulation requires registration number, business name, address and phone number, displayed prominently and not in fine print.
• BC requires the licence number on your website and on ads, business cards, brochures and contracts.
• All-in pricing is not optional. Any price shown must be the total the customer pays, including taxes, fees, levies and your own service charges.
• “From” prices are allowed with conditions, and the conditions have to appear with the price.
• Booking engines carry extra duties: insurance availability and cost, accepted terms and conditions, and travel documentation information shown before payment.
• Design implication: the compliant site and the high-converting site are the same site. Price transparency and clear cancellation terms are what nervous travel buyers are looking for anyway.

Table of contents

1. Who regulates travel agency websites in Canada?
2. What must an Ontario travel agency website show?
3. What does British Columbia require?
4. What about Quebec?
5. The all-in pricing rule, explained properly
6. If your site takes bookings or payment
7. What actually converts on a travel agency website
8. Common mistakes we find in audits
9. FAQ

Who regulates travel agency websites in Canada?

Travel selling is regulated provincially, and only three provinces run a registration regime. If you sell travel in Ontario, British Columbia or Quebec, you need the applicable registration and your advertising is subject to that province’s rules. Everywhere else, general consumer protection and misleading advertising law applies, but there is no travel-specific registry.

One point that catches online agencies: these rules follow the customer, not your office. Selling to Ontario residents generally means Ontario registration, wherever you are based. If you market nationally, assume you are subject to the strictest of the three regimes and build the site to that standard.

What must an Ontario travel agency website show?

TICO’s advertising guidelines, drawn from Section 31 of Ontario Regulation 26/05 under the Travel Industry Act, require registrants to include their TICO registration number along with their business name and business address in representations. TICO recommends this information be prominently displayed and not hidden in fine print.

The baseline identification block

TICO’s own website compliance checklist states the website must clearly identify the registered business name of the registrant in a prominent way, and must clearly show the registrant’s business name, address, phone number and TICO registration number. It also asks that the website URL be included on the registrant’s registration record with TICO, which is a step most agencies have never done.

In practice this is a footer block on every page, repeated on the contact page. Something like:

• Registered business name, exactly as registered, not just the trade name you prefer
• Street address of the registered location
• Phone number for that location
• TICO registration number, labelled as such

Two details worth noting from TICO’s guidance. First, displaying the TICO logo does not replace the requirement to disclose the registration number. Plenty of agency sites show the logo and omit the number, which satisfies nothing. Second, the guidance flags that no residential phone number should appear, which matters for home-based agents.

Social media is treated differently, up to a point

TICO treats individual social posts as limited-space media and exempts them from the Section 31 identification requirement, alongside billboards, bus boards, car wraps, television and radio. But the exemption is narrow: the main page, home page, About area or Bio area of a social profile must still carry the required information.

So your Instagram posts do not each need the registration number. Your Instagram bio does.

Outside sales representatives

If you have independent agents working under your registration, their personal pages, landing pages and social bios are representations of your agency. Decide early whether they get sub-pages on your site under your identification block, or their own pages with the same block repeated. Letting each agent build an unsupervised personal site is where most multi-agent agencies acquire compliance risk.

What does British Columbia require?

Consumer Protection BC’s obligations guidance for licensed travel businesses is direct: display your licence publicly at your place of business, and include your licence number on ads, business cards, brochures and flyers, on documents including contracts, and on your website. Its summary instruction is to include the licence number on any print or web materials.

The receipt requirement affects your booking flow

BC’s guidance lists what a receipt must contain, and this directly shapes the confirmation email your website sends:

• Business name, address, telephone number and licence number
• Date payment was received
• Customer’s name and address
• A description of the services, including the travel date
• The amount received, refunded or outstanding, with an itemised purchase price

A default ecommerce receipt template will not contain the licence number or the itemised breakdown. This is a build task, not an afterthought.

Each location needs its own licence, and that includes how you advertise

Consumer Protection BC’s guidance states that conducting business includes giving a location’s address or phone number in a directory or in any verbal or written advertisement. It also addresses remote workers: they must use the licensed location’s contact information on any visual representation, correspondence, business card, or printed or electronic advertisement, and may not reveal that they work from an unlicensed location.

For a website, the practical consequence is that you should not publish a remote agent’s home address or personal phone number as a point of contact. Route everything through the licensed location’s details.

What about Quebec?

Quebec requires a travel agent permit from the Office de la protection du consommateur. The OPC’s consumer-facing guidance says a travel agent must display the Office’s permit for the agency in full view in each of its establishments, and notes that a licensed agent’s advertising, web documents or print literature may include the words “Québec licensee” as a signal consumers can look for.

That page does not state a website permit-number display rule in the way Ontario and BC do. We are not going to extrapolate one. If you hold a Quebec permit, confirm your specific advertising obligations with the OPC directly rather than relying on a summary.

Two things that definitely do apply to a Quebec-facing travel site and are often missed: French-language requirements for commercial publications, which we covered separately, and Law 25 privacy obligations on any form that collects personal information.

The all-in pricing rule, explained properly

Under Section 33 of Ontario Regulation 26/05, any representation that refers to a price must show the total amount the customer will be required to pay for the travel services, including fees, levies, surcharges, taxes and other charges. Retail sales tax and GST must be included in the advertised total, and so must counselling fees and service charges.

This is the rule that most often turns a good-looking travel website into a non-compliant one, because the standard travel marketing instinct is to lead with the lowest possible number.

What the rule requires, point by point

• The displayed price is the total. Taxes and fees may be itemised separately as well, and a detailed breakdown must be available on request and on the invoice.
• Currency is Canadian dollars unless clearly stated otherwise.
• A brief description of the services is required, naming the air carrier, hotel and travel wholesaler where applicable.
• The price must actually be available at the time the ad is accessible to the public. Previous prices may not be advertised.
• The ad must state that further information is available from a travel agent.
• Mandatory fees paid in destination, not to you, need not be in the all-in price but must be disclosed in the terms and conditions.

“From” prices and date ranges

You can advertise a “from” price, but all factors affecting it, such as room type and travel date, must be disclosed with it. A “from” price may also be used if a “to” price is included. Where there is a range of dates and prices, both a “from” and a “to” price and the date range must be shown.

For a website this means your package card component needs more fields than a designer’s first draft usually has. Design it once, properly:

• Total price, all-in, in CAD, large
• Per-person and occupancy basis, stated plainly
• Date or date range the price applies to
• Carrier, hotel and wholesaler names
• “From” and “to” prices where the price varies
• A link to full terms, which TICO’s guidance says may sit on another page but must be only one click away

The fine print clause

TICO’s guidance is explicit that tiny or illegible text hidden in borders or at the bottom of an ad does not meet the clarity and prominence standard. That is a design instruction as much as a legal one. If your conditions are set in 9px grey on a white background because the designer wanted a clean card, the card is not compliant.

If your site takes bookings or payment

A booking engine moves you from advertising into transacting, and the disclosure set expands. TICO’s website checklist lists what a site with a booking engine must do:

1. Show the availability and cost of trip cancellation and out-of-province health insurance, where applicable.
2. Disclose your terms and conditions and ensure the customer has accepted them. A passive link in the footer does not establish acceptance. Use an explicit, unchecked consent control at the payment step and log it.
3. Comply with the legislated disclosure requirements for the specific travel services sold.
4. For travel outside Canada, show travel documentation information before taking payment: the documents a Canadian needs for that destination, a resource where the consumer can check documentation requirements, and a statement advising the consumer to contact the agency with questions.

That fourth item is the one almost nobody builds. It must appear before payment, not in a post-purchase email. Architecturally it belongs as a required step in the checkout flow for any international itinerary.

Specific travel service disclosures

Section 34 of the regulation requires written representations about a specific travel service to disclose deposit and final payment requirements, refund policy, cancellation terms and charges, the availability and cost of trip cancellation and out-of-province health insurance where applicable, a fair and accurate description of the services including carrier, class of service, departure and arrival points and accommodation location, the date and expected duration of any significant construction or renovation, and the time period the representation applies to.

The construction disclosure is the one people forget. If the resort is renovating, that goes on the page.

What actually converts on a travel agency website

Here is the part worth internalising: the compliant travel site and the high-converting travel site are largely the same site. The disclosures the regulator demands are the information an anxious buyer is already hunting for.

Someone about to spend several thousand dollars on a trip wants to know the real total, what happens if they cancel, whether insurance is available, and who they are actually dealing with. Every one of those is a mandated disclosure. Agencies that treat the rules as a tax hide them. Agencies that treat them as a feature convert better.

Five things that move enquiries

1. Lead with the all-in price and say so. “All-in, CAD, nothing added at checkout” is a selling line. Your competitors are still showing a teaser fare.
2. Put the cancellation policy on the package page, not three clicks away. Clear terms reduce hesitation.
3. Name a human. Travel is a referral business. A real advisor with a photo, a specialisation and a phone number outperforms a generic enquiry form. Keep the licensed location’s contact details, per the BC rule above.
4. Specialise visibly. A site that is clearly for Alberta families booking all-inclusive Mexico, or for corporate groups out of Toronto, converts better than one claiming to do everything.
5. Make the enquiry form short. Destination, dates, party size, contact. The consultation is where you qualify, not the form.

Should you publish prices at all?

Some agencies conclude the all-in rule is easier to satisfy by publishing no prices and routing everything to a consultation. That is legitimate, and for custom and luxury itineraries it is often the right call. The trade-off is fewer, better-qualified enquiries. We worked through the general version of that decision in should you put pricing on your website.

What you cannot do is publish a price that is not the all-in total. There is no middle option.

Common mistakes we find in audits

• TICO logo displayed, registration number missing. The guidance says the logo does not replace the number.
• Trade name only. The registered business name has to appear, even if you trade under something shorter.
• Identification on the contact page only. Representations happen on every page that advertises. Put the block in the footer.
• Prices pulled live from a supplier feed, pre-tax. An API that returns base fare is not a defence. Whatever renders on your page is your representation.
• Stale package pages. The advertised price must be available when the ad is accessible. An expired deal left up is a live compliance problem, and an archive of them is a bigger one.
• Terms linked in the footer and treated as accepted. A booking engine needs explicit, recorded acceptance.
• No travel documentation step before payment on international bookings.
• Agent personal sites with no identification block. Outside sales representatives are representing your registration.
• USD prices with no currency label. CAD is the default unless clearly stated otherwise.

A pre-launch checklist

• Registered business name, address, phone and registration or licence number in the site-wide footer
• Same block on the contact page, in readable type
• Website URL filed with your regulator’s registration record
• Every price is the all-in CAD total, with occupancy basis and dates
• Carrier, hotel and wholesaler named on every package
• “From” prices carry their conditions and a “to” price where the price varies
• Full terms one click away from any advertised price
• Cancellation, refund, deposit and final payment terms on the service page
• Insurance availability and cost shown where applicable
• Construction or renovation disclosed where known
• Booking engine records explicit terms acceptance
• Travel documentation step before payment on international itineraries
• Receipt template carries licence number and itemised pricing
• No residential addresses or personal phone numbers published for remote agents
• Expired packages unpublished or redirected, not left live

Frequently asked questions

Does my TICO number have to be on every page of my website?

TICO’s requirement attaches to representations, and its website checklist asks that the site clearly show the business name, address, phone number and registration number. Because any page advertising travel services is a representation, the practical and safe approach is a site-wide footer block that appears on every page, rather than a single mention on a contact page.

Can I show a price before taxes on my travel website?

No. Under Section 33 of Ontario Regulation 26/05, any price representation must show the total the customer will pay, including taxes, fees, levies, surcharges and your own counselling or service charges. You may itemise the components as well, and a detailed breakdown must be available on request and on the invoice, but the advertised figure is the total.

Do I need TICO registration if my agency is outside Ontario?

Ontario’s regime applies to selling travel services to Ontario consumers, so location alone does not decide it. If you actively market to or sell to Ontario residents, assume registration is in scope and confirm with TICO directly. The same logic applies to British Columbia and Quebec.

Do my Instagram posts need the TICO number?

Individual posts are treated as limited-space media and exempted from the identification requirement, the same way billboards and radio spots are. The main page, home page, About area or Bio area of the profile must carry the required information. So the bio needs it, the individual posts do not.

What does a compliant travel agency website cost in Canada?

Roughly the same as any professional small business site, because the compliance work is specification rather than extra technology. The variable is the booking engine. A brochure and enquiry site is a standard build. A site that takes payment for international itineraries needs the documentation step, terms acceptance logging and a compliant receipt template, which adds scope. Our Canadian website cost guide covers the general ranges.

Can I leave an expired package deal on my website?

Not with the price on it. TICO’s guidance states the advertised price must be available to the public at the time of the advertisement, and that previous prices may not be advertised. Either unpublish the page, remove the price, or replace it with a current one. Leaving a library of expired deals live is a recurring problem on older agency sites.

Do independent agents under my registration need their own compliance?

Their pages are representations of your agency, so the identification requirements follow them. In BC, remote workers must use the licensed location’s contact information on any electronic advertisement and may not disclose that they work from an unlicensed location. Govern agent pages centrally rather than letting each build their own.

Conclusion

A Canadian travel agency website has a smaller design space than most sites and a clearer one. The regulator has already told you what has to be on the page: who you are, what your number is, what the trip actually costs, and what happens if the customer cancels. Build the identification block once, build the package card to carry the full price and its conditions, and build the booking flow to capture consent and show documentation requirements before payment.

Then compete on the thing the rules do not constrain: being visibly, specifically good at a kind of trip. That is what the regulated-profession sites that win have in common, whether they are selling travel, legal services, insurance or accounting.

Build it once, properly

Wise Media builds websites for regulated Canadian businesses, where what the site can say is as much a design constraint as how it looks. We handle the identification requirements, the pricing components and the booking disclosures as part of the build rather than as a retrofit. See our website development work, or our conversion systems if you have a compliant site that is not producing enquiries.

Tell us about your agency and we will scope it.

Sources

• TICO, Advertising Guidelines for Ontario Travel Retailers and Travel Wholesalers
• TICO, Website Compliance Checklist
• Consumer Protection BC, Travel: Know Your Obligations
• Office de la protection du consommateur, Checking a travel agent’s licence