Canada’s largest airline and flag carrier Air Canada has won another award for its corporate social responsibility strategy at the Canadian HR Awards. This award recognizes Air Canada’s efforts to successfully establish corporate social responsibility in its culture, as well as its sustainability initiatives.
Air Canada wins Best Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy
Air Canada has been rewarded with the Payworks Award for Best Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy at the annual Canadian HR Awards. Presented by leading Canadian HR magazines HRD Canada and Canadian HR Reporter, the Canadian HR Awards are recognized as the leading independent awards program in the human resource profession, rewarding the country’s best HR teams and employers.
This year’s Best Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy category rewards Canada’s largest airline and flag carrier for successfully establishing corporate social responsibility in its culture, and the role HR played in developing sustainability initiatives within the company.
“We are thrilled with this recognition as we see the integration of sustainability, environmental and social elements throughout our organization as equally important to economic factors in contributing to our airline’s success. We have cultivated our corporate culture to consider sustainability and social good aspects in our strategic decision making, and this, in turn, has resulted in a wide range of opportunities to cultivate employee engagement in important causes that make a difference,” said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer and Public Affairs at Air Canada.
Air Canada’s sustainability initiatives
Air Canada’s corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives rewarded by the award include the Air Canada Foundation, which raised over $1 million to support over 100 charities and set up the Hospital Transportation Program, which helps young patients access medical care not offered in their communities. They also include Air Canada Vaccination Hubs set up in 2021, which offered temporary employment opportunities in provincial vaccination clinics in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver to the airline’s furloughed employees.
Air Canada has also performed humanitarian work to support Ukraine, such as helping global aid organizations transport humanitarian and medical aid to the country or setting up flights to help Ukrainian refugees travel to Canada. Beyond external help, the airline has also put in place a Climate Action Plan to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in all its operations by 2050, as well as strategies to increase diversity, equity and inclusion within the company.
More information about Air Canada’s community engagement and social responsibility initiatives can be found in its 2021 Corporate Sustainability Report.
So, do you think Air Canada deserved this award for its social responsibility culture and initiatives? Let us know down below!
I remember when Air Canada sold tickets in the middle of a pandemic, then refused refunds when THEY cancelled the flights.
Then there was the time they changed the destination on their website from Taipei, Taiwan to Taipei, China in order to please the PRC government. A government that the Canadian parliament says is committing genocide.
Yeah, AC wonderful people!