A Canadian airline has apologised to passengers after a flight was cancelled because a young child refused to sit down and buckle up.

The crew on Porter Airlines and the parent repeatedly tried to secure the child on the trip bound for Toronto but they were unsuccessful.

A decision was made to unload the parent and child where they were at Victoria International Airport in British Columbia.

But by the time the two passengers disembarked and obtained their luggage, it was too late to depart again before the runway closed at 12.30am.

The flight was cancelled and passengers had to scramble to find accommodation. The flight was rebooked for the following day, said Porter Airlines.

The Toronto-based airline apologised to passengers.

“We apologise for the effect this had on other passengers, who were able to depart on a flight the following day,” said airline spokesman Brad Cicero.

The story triggered debate over parenting, travel safety and etiquette.

Fox News morning program co-host Charles Hurt advocated physical discipline and said the situation was “beyond the pale.”

However, one sympathetic passenger told The Canadian Press that the child seemed genuinely scared.

Aryeh Kozuch, 26, said he was closing his eyes in preparation for take-off when he heard an announcement stating that obeying flight attendants’ instructions was required by law.

The Canadian Press reported that five minutes later, there was another announcement: Passengers must comply with flight attendants’ instructions within 60 seconds, or the plane was going back to the gate.

“At this point, it’s like, ‘Oh, something is wrong,’” said Kozuch.

He said a flight attendant told some unhappy passengers that a young child was squirming and sliding down under the seat and refusing to be buckled in.

But Kozuch said online comments calling the child bratty or attacking the parent didn’t “empathetically capture the situation”.

“This was a child that was in a tube with 150 people … They’re obviously terrified, and their response was to try and hide under the seat in front of them,” he said.

“That’s so different than a kid running around and screaming.”

He said he wouldn’t expect the toddler’s parents to try to physically force them into their seat.

Kozuch said the flight attendants told him they hadn’t seen anything like this before.

“Kids refuse this all the time, and eventually, they always comply,” Kozuch told The Canadian Press.

“At least, that’s what they assumed would happen.”