A 15-year-old boy who was "trapped" in an airport overnight after the airline he was flying with rebooked his connecting flight has described the experience as "like being held prisoner".

Derrin Espinola was travelling alone from Denver in the U.S. to Thunder Bay in Canada via Toronto with Air Canada, but a delay leaving Denver caused him to miss his connecting flight home, CBA News reported.

Arriving in Toronto at about 8 p.m., Espinola said the airline rebooked him on a flight to Thunder Bay at 6pm the next evening, but did not offer him any accommodation or food vouchers.

"I was trapped in the airport and there was nowhere I could go. I could not leave. I could not get a hotel because I am a minor. It was like being held prisoner." he told CBC News.

The teen said he ran between Air Canada service desks explaining he was a minor and needed help, but none was offered.

"I was very hungry, very tired, very scared," he said, adding that he did his best to stay awake for fear of being robbed.

His mother Karin Patock was making the three-hour drive from her home in Geraldton, Ontario to Thunder Bay when she learned of her son's predicament.

She said she spent 10 hours on the phone trying to get through to Air Canada.

Calls were answered with an "unacceptable" voice message "basically saying "the airport is under construction and we cannot accommodate anyone right now, so call back later"," she said.

The family eventually booked the teen a flight with another airline at their own expense, she said. This was to save him from having to spend another night alone in Toronto after the flight he had been rebooked on was cancelled.

Patock, who said she booked her son's flight with Air Canada because of its policy of taking care of youths travelling alone, has filed a complaint with Air Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency.

An Air Canada spokesperson told CBC News the airline was "truly sorry" to learn of Espinola's experience and is investigating the situation.

"It has been a challenge with the ongoing runway construction at Toronto Pearson, which was also compounded by severe weather conditions last week in the Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa and surrounding areas, including recent adverse conditions in Thunder Bay," the spokesperson said.