Air Canada has partnered with CHOOOSE to provide its customers with verified carbon offsets to compensate the estimated greenhouse gas emissions associated with their flight.
The voluntary program gives customers the opportunity to support certified third-party projects that reduce, capture, or avoid GHG emissions around the world. The option to purchase verified carbon offsets is now seamlessly integrated into the airline’s Canadian and U.S. booking websites.
To learn more, please visit the CHOOOSE website.
We are an industry leader when it comes to fighting the illegal wildlife trade. In 2020, Air Canada signed the Buckingham Palace Declaration and became the first North American airline to hold the IATA Illegal Wildlife Trade certification, which means we have policies and procedures in place to reduce the likelihood of transportation of illegal wildlife products.
In March 2021, we hosted a virtual forum to raise awareness on the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) in Canada’s transportation industry. We featured prominent speakers including Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada, The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Dr. Jane Goodall.
The application for our “Leave less/Do More” for our planet Sustainability Scholarship opens each fall, where the children of employees can share how they’re helping to build a sustainable future through their education—no matter their field of study—in a short essay. In December 2021, 10 applicants each received $2,000 to be applied toward their studies.
Since its start in 2016, the scholarship has benefited 51 students pursuing their post-secondary studies in a variety of majors.
Air Canada works with Fill it Forward to allow employees to support our plastic reduction initiatives. Employees can use the Fill it Forward app to track when they use a reusable water bottle, and for each scan, Air Canada contributes to Water First , a Canadian charity that addresses water challenges in First Nations communities. Our dedicated project with Water First resulted in employees scanning to give $4000 dollars in donations.
Over the years, we have regularly partnered with the Partners in Project Green for employee tree planting across Canada. Our fall 2021 event in Brampton brought employees together to plant trees in a local conservation area.
Air Canada also hosts beehives at our headquarters with Alvéole’s urban beekeeping service. Each hive houses more than 20,000 honey bees. Employees may visit the hives, and a workshop is held annually to harvest the honey. More than 15 kg of honey are produced by the hive each year.
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.