MONTREAL, Sept. 20,
2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada was recently
recognized at the annual Canadian HR Awards with the Payworks Award
for Best Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy. This honour
recognizes an organization for successfully establishing corporate
social responsibility in its culture through its people and the
role HR had in the strategy and execution of such initiatives.
"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.
Sustainability initiatives embedded across Air Canada's
organizational culture and people include:
- The Air Canada Foundation, which raised more than $1million and dispersed close to $600,000 to support close to 160 charities, and
its Hospital Transportation Program and other partnerships to
advance children's health and well-being,
- Humanitarian work to support Ukraine, including employees volunteering
their time to pack emergency family food and response kits, special
flights transporting humanitarian and medical aid on behalf of
global aid organizations, and the facilitation of flights for
people to travel to Canada,
- A Climate Action Plan with strategies and absolute mid-term
goals to achieve a long-term objective of net-zero emissions from
all global operations by 2050,
- Air Canada Vaccination Hubs set up in 2021 to support the
Canadian vaccination effort with temporary employment opportunities
for furloughed employees in non-medical staffing positions at
provincial vaccination clinics in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
- Employee engagement opportunities to give back to their own
communities through the causes they are involved in,
- Ongoing advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
initiatives including rollout of DEI educational training across
the organization, and commitment to creating a DEI Executive
Council and DEI Steering Committee,
- Several textile re-use, recycling and donation programs,
including development of an app to enable employees to exchange new
and gently used uniform pieces, to promote sustainable alternatives
to landfill disposal,
- The Fill it Forward initiative to encourage employees to stay
hydrated while supporting the environment and contribute to Water
First, a Canadian charity that addresses water challenges in First
Nations communities through education, training and meaningful
collaboration.
Additional information about Air Canada's people, employee and
community engagement, safety, wellness, the environment, and other
initiatives are detailed in the airline's 2021 Corporate
Sustainability Report, Citizens of the World .
The annual Canadian HR Awards are recognized as the leading
independent awards program in the human resource profession. The
awards showcase the nation's most outstanding HR teams, leaders and
employers for their achievements, best practices and leadership in
the HR profession over the past 12 months. The Canadian HR
Awards is presented by HRD Canada and Canadian HR Reporter.
Earlier this year, Air Canada was honoured with additional
recognitions for its human resource programs and achievements,
including being named by Forbes as one of Canada's "Best Employers for Diversity", and
as one of "Canada's Best
Employers 2022". The airline was also recognized by Mediacorp for
the ninth consecutive year as one of "Montreal's Top Employers" for 2022.
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada's largest airline, the country's flag
carrier and a founding member of Star
Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation
network celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2022. Air
Canada provides scheduled
passenger service directly to 51 airports in Canada, 51 in the
United States and 86 internationally. It is the only
international network carrier in North
America to receive a Four-Star ranking from Skytrax, which
in 2021 gave Air Canada awards for the Best Airline Staff in
North America, Best Airline Staff
in Canada, Best Business Class
Lounge in North America, and an
excellence award for managing COVID-19. Through its leading
travel loyalty Aeroplan program, Air Canada offers the ability to
earn or redeem points on the world's largest airline partner
network of 45 airlines, plus through an extensive range of
merchandise, hotel and car rental rewards. Its freight division,
Air Canada Cargo, provides air freight lift and connectivity to
hundreds of destinations across six continents using Air Canada's
passenger flights and cargo-only flights with its fleet of Boeing
767-300 freighters. Air Canada has
committed to a net zero emissions goal from all global operations
by 2050.
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