With files from Quinn Patrick
Canada’s major airlines aren’t just in the business of flying passengers—they’re also deeply invested in diversity, equity, and inclusion that reshape hiring practices.
From Air Canada’s mandatory “microaggression” and “allyship” training to WestJet’s “genderless” uniforms and all-female flight crews, these policies reflect a corporate shift toward identity-based decision-making.
Whether it’s Transat’s unconscious bias workshops, Flair’s “Pride Flights,” or Sunwing’s gender-neutral pilot dress codes, DEI has become a defining feature of the airline industry.
With the recent shocking plane crash at Toronto’s Pearson airport, True North has compiled a list of all of the major Canadian airlines’ woke DEI measures.
Air Canada: Microaggression and “allyship” training
Air Canada’s DEI policies reveal a corporate strategy deeply committed to identity-based hiring and leadership selection at all levels.
Its 2022 board policy embedded diversity quotas for board members, ensuring that candidates for director positions must include individuals from government-defined “designated groups” (women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities). Rather than focusing solely on qualifications, Air Canada’s Governance and Nominating Committee actively seeks candidates through diversity-focused organizations and mandates slates that include individuals from these groups.
The company’s hiring and workplace accommodation policies go even further. Training on “microaggressions” and “allyship” is mandated for all employees, along with unconscious bias training for recruiters—practices that often enforce ideological conformity rather than improve workplace efficiency.
The hiring strategy includes a dedicated “DEI Sourcing Manager” to prioritize underrepresented groups, reinforcing identity-based preferences in recruitment.
Air Canada’s aviation pipeline and pilot recruitment efforts continue this trend, with programs specifically for women, such as the Captain Judy Cameron Scholarships, which are reserved exclusively for female aspiring pilots and engineers.
WestJet & WestJet Encore: Genderless uniforms, all-female flight crews
WestJet’s DEI policies include the appointment of a senior leader to oversee DEI initiatives, which began in May 2024. The company also tracks its social governance goals including anti-racism training.
In 2022, WestJet also unveiled its “genderless” uniform policy, to cater to individual identity preferences of staff and promote “body inclusive” practices.
Additionally, WestJet was a signatory to the BlackNorth Initiative pledge following widespread Black Lives Matter protests in North America. The pledge requires CEOs to focus on addressing “anti-Black systemic racism,” underscoring a growing trend to inject race and gender politics into corporate culture.
WestJet has also boasted about flights involving all-female flight and landing crews.
Transat: DEI workshops
In its DEI statement, Transat emphasized fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as championing a corporate environment built on identity. According to its latest accessibility progress report, the company has done this by distributing self-identification questionnaires and offering workshops on DEI and unconscious bias.
Transat writes that the company’s commitment to tracking employees’ self-identified characteristics is an ongoing quest for inclusion. Additionally, the airline offers an inclusive recruitment course to “demystify” inclusion policies.
“Moreover, in order to promote the use of respectful language and demystify some of the concepts around inclusion and accessibility, a two-hour in-person workshop on DEI and unconscious bias was held for all Air Transat managers in the fall of 2023. An online version of the workshop was also made available to employees across the organization,” the company explains.
Flair: “Pride Flights”
Flair’s DEI policies place diversity and inclusion at the forefront of their corporate agenda. The airline has committed to “inclusive growth” and “fostering diversity.” As a federally regulated airline, it is subject to the Labour Employment Equity Program which mandates the prioritization of women, Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities for hiring.
Additionally, Flair has its own employee-led DEI network that tracks inclusion metrics via a Diversity Ratio KPI and has a diversity policy for its Board of Directors.
Flair has also hosted a “Pride Flight” as a publicity stunt to alight with the LGBTQ social equity movement.
Sunwing: Gender-neutral Pilot Dress Code
Sunwing proudly announced it was the first airline in the world to implement a gender-neutral pilot dress code as well as being among the first Canadian airlines to introduce Gender X for passenger check-in.
The airline’s Global People & Culture team also hosts a monthly Brave Space Conversation Series around various DEI topics and initiatives.
Earlier this month, Sunwing celebrated its second annual celebratory flight in honour of Black History Month by operating a flight from Toronto to Montego Bay led entirely by a Black flight crew.
