TORONTO- Air Canada (AC) has settled its legal dispute with Brink’s over the theft of gold and cash from its cargo facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), bringing one major court battle arising from Canada’s largest gold heist to an end.
The airline confirmed that an appeal involving the two companies has been discontinued, although the financial terms of the settlement have not been made public.
The dispute followed the April 2023 theft of approximately 400 kilograms of gold and 53 kilograms of banknotes from Air Canada’s cargo operation at Toronto Pearson.
The shipment had arrived from Switzerland before an individual used a fraudulent document to obtain the high-value cargo from the airline’s facility.
Air Canada Settles Toronto Heist Case
The settlement resolves Brink’s appeal against an earlier Federal Court decision that sharply limited Air Canada’s financial liability.
In January 2025, the court ordered the airline to pay Brink’s 9,988 Special Drawing Rights, worth more than C$18,000 at the time, despite the stolen shipment being valued at more than C$20 million.
The ruling centered on the Montreal Convention, which establishes limits on an airline’s liability for international air cargo. The court found that Brink’s had not formally declared the monetary value of the shipment for carriage, meaning the treaty’s liability limit applied.
Brink’s challenged that conclusion and sought substantially greater compensation.
The company argued that the shipment had effectively been identified as valuable through Air Canada’s AC Secure service and documentation that repeatedly referred to gold and special supervision.
Why The Case Changed
The appeal created the possibility of a significantly larger financial exposure for Air Canada. Brink’s was seeking more than US$14.9 million, equivalent to more than C$21 million, in the appeal, CP24 reported.
The company had also argued that Air Canada failed to provide adequate security for the shipment.
Brink’s said it had compensated its Swiss clients, including Raiffeisen Schweiz and precious-metals refiner Valcambi SA, after the theft.
Neither Air Canada nor Brink’s has disclosed the amount agreed under the settlement. The decision to settle therefore closes the appeal without establishing how much, if anything beyond the earlier court award, Air Canada will ultimately pay.
Toronto Gold Heist Investigation
The settlement ends the civil dispute between the two companies but does not close the wider investigation into the Pearson gold theft. Criminal proceedings connected to the case are continuing in Brampton, Ontario.
Several people have faced charges in connection with the heist, including former Air Canada employees.
Authorities have alleged that the theft involved access to the airline’s cargo operation and the use of a fraudulent document to release the shipment.
The April 17, 2023 theft remains one of the most notable cargo-security incidents in Canadian aviation. The settlement now removes the Air Canada-Brink’s appeal from the courts, while the criminal cases continue separately.
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