Nature and biodiversity

Every year, millions of animals are captured and become victims of the illegal wildlife trade (IWT). This endangers the survival of many species and poses a risk to global health. Air Canada asserts and maintains a zero-tolerance approach to Illegal Wildlife Trade (including hunting trophies and shark fins associated with illegal wildlife activities).

Some of our most notable efforts include:

  • Signing the Buckingham Palace Declaration
  • Becoming the first North American airline to hold the IATA Illegal Wildlife Trade certification
  • Joining the United for Wildlife North American taskforce
  • Transporting confiscated wildlife to new homes at Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited facilities to ensure species survival
  • Participating in the funding and selection of 12 community-focused environmental projects for youth, under the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada’s Roots & Shoots program
  • Hosting a virtual forum, featuring The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, former Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Dr. Jane Goodall, to raise awareness on the IWT in Canada’s transportation industry

Beehive Program: giving back to nature

At Air Canada, we want to Do More by contributing to the preservation of the ecosystems in the communities that we serve. That’s why we have installed beehives at five of our locations: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montréal and Halifax.

These hives are home to tens of thousands of honeybees that help pollinate the surrounding flora and produce delicious honey. Each hive can host up to 100,000 bees at its peak, making them buzzing communities of nature’s workers.

We also offer our employees the opportunity to learn more about these amazing insects through biannual workshops at each location. Our beehive program is part of our commitment to biodiversity and employee engagement.

Beehive program
Shoreline cleanups

Shoreline cleanups

Annually, Air Canada teams up with Ocean Wise to clean up shorelines in Vancouver, Toronto and Montréal. Air Canada employees are invited to join with friends and family to help engage in the communities where we fly.

Sustainability scholarship

The Sustainability Scholarship Program encourages the children of full-time and part-time active Air Canada employees, registered in a Canadian post-secondary institution and who are 30 years of age or younger, to tell us how they are helping build a sustainable future through their studies.

The Scholarship is awarded to 10 recipients each year to support their post-secondary studies.

The funds for this scholarship are raised through metal recycling activities carried out by our Air Canada Maintenance branch.

Do more Scholarship
Do more Scholarship

Air Canada's collaboration with Chooose

Air Canada is collaborating with Chooose to offer customers the voluntary option to purchase carbon offset credits together with environmental attributes associated with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) while booking on Air Canada’s website.

To learn more about the Leave Less Travel Program, please visit the Chooose website.

Industry collaboration

As an international airline, we’re global in our way of thinking, not just our reach. We believe in collaboration among industry stakeholders and are actively involved in initiatives to better understand, strategize and effect environmental protection locally and globally.

Logo NACC
Logo IATA
Logo A4A
CBSR
Logo C-SAF
Last updated on June 26, 2025