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Air Canada wins diversity accolade

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Air Canada has been named one of Canada's Best Diversity employers for 2017, the second consecutive year the carrier has been awarded this distinction. In naming Air Canada, Mediacorp Canada Inc. cited the airline's success promoting women, including in non-traditional roles. The award is based on Mediacorp's Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which also included Air Canada for the fourth consecutive year for 2017.

"Diversity is a powerful tool in business. Studies show that diverse groups generate greater creativity and innovation. It is also essential for attracting and retaining the best talent because people value inclusion and the receptive environment diversity creates motivates everyone to do their best work. This is a particularly important attribute for a global airline like Air Canada that competes with other international carriers for both customers and talent from around the world," says Calin Rovinescu, president and chief executive of Air Canada.

"We therefore put a tremendous emphasis on diversity. One example is the prominent roles women occupy throughout our company, from the airport ramp to C-suite offices and the Air Canada boardroom. Nearly half of Air Canada's employees are women and more than 40 per cent of middle managers are women. We are pleased that Mediacorp has recognised our efforts to attract more women, particularly for non-traditional roles at the airline."

The carrier maintains diversity committees across Canada in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Air Canada runs programmes to encourage young women to consider aviation careers, the carrier hired 30 women pilots in 2016, up from 11 in the prior year. There are an estimated 60 languages spoken by Air Canada employees and 20 per cent of employees belong to visible minorities.

Other highlights from the diversity programme are: Air Canada employs more than 300 individuals self-identified as disabled. Since 1993 Air Canada has been a sponsor of The Indspire Awards to recognise indigenous professionals and youth with outstanding career achievements. Recipients are chosen to serve as role models for all indigenous peoples.

Air Canada has signed the Catalyst Accord, an undertaking sponsored by the internationally recognised group, Catalyst, committing to increase the number of women on its board of directors to 25 per cent, which it did by May 2016.  

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