Air Canada ordered to pay 7 pilots after denying them religious vaccine exemptions
· Toronto Sun
Seven Air Canada pilots who were denied religious exemptions from the airline’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy have won their case with an arbitrator ordering they be granted back pay.
The arbitrator found that Air Canada had violated the Canadian Human Rights Act when it placed the seven Christian pilots on unpaid leave for failing to meet the company’s requirement of demonstrating a “sincere religious belief” when they filed for religious exemptions from the company’s COVID vaccine policy.
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“Other pilots granted exemptions were placed on paid leave pending employer consideration of possible accommodation,” arbitrator James Hayes noted.
Airline sought letters from religious leaders
Back in 2021, Air Canada had directed employees seeking religious exemptions to provide a letter from their religious leader explaining why they couldn’t be vaccinated.
While the seven pilots, who are members of the Air Line Pilots Association, didn’t submit the letters, Hayes said the airline “should have allowed their requests for religious exemption from the start” as he found the pilots’ objections to COVID vaccination were “grounded in sincere religious objections.”
He also noted: “Acceptance of an individual affirmation of religious belief is not dependent upon production of endorsement from someone else. Not to say that supporting material would be irrelevant.”
He also noted that “all of the grievors acted transparently when faced with the mandatory vaccination policy in the first place. They acted individually without coordination. They did so at some perceived risk to their careers of which they were very proud, and at significant immediate economic cost to their families.”
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Pilots lost six months’ pay
The seven pilots were placed on unpaid leave from Oct. 31, 2021 to May 9, 2022, while other pilots granted exemptions were placed on paid leave.
Hayes said the seven pilots “should have been placed on initial paid leaves of absence, as had been their pilot colleagues granted exemptions at the outset.”
The ruling was made on March 3, 2026, and directed the airline to compensate the pilots for their lost income within 60 days.