Employers should prepare for sickest month of the year, says HR software firm

Sickest month of the year

Photo: Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.

For 2023-24, a Statistics Canada survey revealed only 42 per cent of respondents received a flu vaccination, one per cent less than last year

Employers should have clear sick-day policies and encourage vaccinations to prevent impacts to productivity and bottom lines, according to human resources software company BrightHR.

The company, which monitors more than 7,000 companies and 65,000 employees in Canada, revealed in a Nov. 22 release that 34 per cent of all sickness absences from the flu or colds typically occur between November and January. 

December is the third “sickest” month of the year, followed by November in second and January in first.

Industries heavily reliant on temporary contractors or shift work could be impacted the most by absences this year, BrightHR chief international growth and marketing officer Thea Watson told BIV. 

She said sectors like education, retail and hospitality could be left with fewer people to do their jobs, which can increase burnout for other employees.

For flu-related absences, November and December 2023 tied in second place with the most sick days – each at 131 per cent above last year’s monthly average, according to data from BrightHR. A spokeswoman for BrightHR did not provide BIV with this year's data by publication time.

However, Watson says employers can take action and minimize impacts.

“One of the first things they [companies] can do is ensure that they're communicating their policies,” she said. This includes being clear about sick days and remote work policies.

Flu absences have continued to become more frequent across the country, said Watson, adding this has significant effects on worker productivity and business costs.

“It takes anywhere from two to five minutes to process any sick leave,” she said. “You could be spending thousands [of dollars] on just processing sick leave … depending on your business size.”

BrightHR CEO Alan Price said in the release encouraging employers to stay home if they’re feeling unwell could prevent losing other workers to sickness. However, encouragement should also be given for flu vaccinations. 

Flu vaccinations for adults 18 and older have slightly decreased over the past year, from 43 per cent in 2022-23 to 42 per cent in 2023-24, according to Statistics Canada’s vaccination coverage survey.

Among respondents, the most common reason for not getting the flu shot was thinking the vaccine was not needed (31 per cent), with 15 per cent stating they encountered difficulties scheduling an appointment.

Meta donates $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund

Meta donates $1M to Trump

Photo: The Canadian Press

FILE - Mark Zuckerberg talks about the Orion AR glasses during the Meta Connect conference on Sept. 25, 2024, in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund.

The donation comes just weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the offering Thursday. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Stephen Miller, who has been appointed deputy chief of staff for Trump’s second term, has said that Zuckerberg, like other business leaders, wants to support Trump’s economic plans. The tech CEO has been seeking to change his company’s perception on the right following a rocky relationship with Trump.

Trump was kicked off Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The company restored his account in early 2023.

During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president but has voiced a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump’s response to his first assassination attempt.

Still, Trump had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly during the campaign. In July, he posted a message on his own social network Truth Social threatening to send election fraudsters to prison in part by citing a nickname he used for the Meta CEO. “ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!” Trump wrote.

Corporations have traditionally made up a large share of donors to presidential inaugurals, with an exception in 2009, when then-President-elect Barack Obama refused to accept corporate donations. He reversed course for his second inaugural in 2013.

Facebook did not donate to either Biden's 2021 inaugural or Trump’s 2017 inaugural.

Google donated $285,000 each to Trump first inaugural and Biden’s inaugural, according to Federal Election Commission records. Inaugural committees are required to disclose the source of their fundraising, but not how they spend the money. Microsoft gave $1 million to Obama’s second inaugural, but only $500,000 to Trump in 2017 and Biden in 2021.

Federal government sells its Air Canada stake

Feds sell Air Canada stake

Photo: The Canadian Press

The federal government has sold its roughly 6-per-cent stake in Air Canada in the past few days, according to a source.

Ottawa bought $500-million in Air Canada AC-T shares for about $23.18 apiece in April, 2021, becoming the biggest investor as part of a bailout package that aimed to shore up the finances of Canada’s largest airline, which lost billions in the COVID-19 shutdown.

The average selling price was about $25 a share over the past few days, according to the source, whom the Globe is not identifying because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

A government spokeswoman declined to comment on Thursday.

“The government does not intend to be a long-term shareholder of Air Canada and the shares will be divested in due course,” Ministry of Finance spokeswoman Marie-France Faucher said in September.

Peter Fitzpatrick, an Air Canada spokesperson, declined to comment.

Air Canada shares were trading at about $25.45 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday and have risen by 60 per cent in the past three months.

As part of the selloff, Ottawa unloaded 14 million shares in the past two days through two large block trades, one for 4.15 million shares on Wednesday and another for 10.13 million shares early Thursday, according to trading data reviewed by The Globe and Mail. The average weighted price for these sales was $25.02 per share.

The federal government announced the Air Canada investment as part of an aid package in April, 2021, almost a year into the pandemic that halted most airline traffic and closed borders. The domestic aviation industry was lobbying intensely for financial help to limit deep losses, pointing to large aid packages given to their international rivals.

Ottawa’s aid to Air Canada came with conditions that the carrier provide customer refunds, protect jobs and limit executive compensation.

During the pandemic, Air Canada laid off more than half of its 38,000 employees and grounded much of its fleet, posting a total loss of $9.9-billion between 2020 and 2022. The airline has since ridden a global recovery in demand for travel to post profits, add routes and expand its fleet.

The Air Canada share sale took place against a background of strong stock market performance, with the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index up 22.4 per cent year to date.

In the past month, the rally in stock prices has prompted investment banks to serve up a series of stock sales, including two large equity sales from consumer-focused companies, a sector that also includes Air Canada.

Recent stock sales came from clothing retailer Groupe Dynamite Inc., where the founder raised $300-million from an initial public offering, and a $100-million equity sale from Dentalcorp Holdings Ltd. In Calgary, Tourmaline Oil Corp. raised $345-million by selling a portion of its stake in Topaz Energy Corp.

Stricter penalties, rules needed to combat copper wire theft, telecoms tell senators

Copper thieves cause havoc

Photo: The Canadian Press

Pedestrians walk past a vandalized high voltage electric box on the 6th Street Viaduct, on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Los Angeles, which has been damaged by copper wire theft. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Damian Dovarganes

Canadian telecommunications companies are calling for stiffer penalties targeting copper wire theft and new rules that would limit the vandals' ability to resell the material.

Executives from Bell Canada and Telus Corp. told the Senate's transport and communications committee on Wednesday evening that the problem continues worsen, wreaking havoc on emergency services and business operations when their networks are disrupted.

Since January 2022, Bell has seen more than 1,650 security incidents targeting its infrastructure, around 88 per cent of which related to copper theft, Michele Austin, the company's vice-president of public affairs, told the committee.

She said Bell saw 78 per cent more incidents of copper theft last month compared with November 2023.

Such incidents "are having a profoundly negative impact on Canadians and on the economy," said Austin, noting a recent example in Preston, Ont., where more than 1,000 phone lines were cut and customers lost service for about 60 hours.

"Businesses can’t process transactions. Airports have to stop ticketing passengers and sometimes have to cancel flights," she said.

Austin said Ottawa should amend the Criminal Code to outline specific offences when someone commits mischief or theft targeting telecom networks, services or infrastructure.

Brian Lakey, the vice-president of the Reliability Centre of Excellence at Telus, said classifying damage to telecom infrastructure as a more serious crime would act as a deterrent, as would imposing stronger penalties.

He noted copper theft is usually considered a "petty theft," or theft under $5,000.

"This is the same charge level against someone caught stealing a bicycle, yet the consequences of copper theft are much greater," said Eric Smith, senior vice-president of the Canadian Telecommunications Association.

Lakey also called for an amendment to the Telecommunications Act to prohibit and impose fines on the sale of illegally obtained telecom material.

"This will disrupt the supply chain for stolen copper," he said, adding provinces also have a role to play in "closing loopholes that allow criminals to profit from stolen copper."

Lakey said provinces should standardize regulations around scrap metal dealing and recycling. One way to do this would be through rules limiting the sale of melted down copper that is no longer traceable.

The Senate committee heard earlier in the week from public safety and law enforcement officials who described challenges in dealing with the issue. RCMP Chief Supt. Peter Tewfik told the group it can be difficult to identify and link stolen metals back to an owner because copper can be melted down, erasing any identifiers before the material is sold by the thief to a scrapyard.

Tewfik also said copper wire infrastructure often lacks security, such as fencing, lights, cameras or patrols, which makes it hard to prevent theft.

Lakey said Telus has boosted its spending on security measures such as floodlights, video cameras and specialized locking equipment, "however these deterrents are not enough."

Since 2021, more than 170,000 Telus customers have lost service due to copper theft, including multiple incidents this year in cities such as Calgary and Abbotsford, B.C., he told the committee.

"Copper thieves are becoming increasingly sophisticated and organized," he said.

Earlier this year, Ottawa passed the Countering Foreign Interference Act, which criminalizes acts of sabotage against essential infrastructure, including telecom networks.

But while that legislation penalizes crimes "harmful to Canada's national interests," Smith said the telecom industry is concerned it would be difficult to prove such intent in cases involving copper theft.

He said there is a need to "fill the gap that exists in Canadian law," including through stronger rules around sales at scrapyards.

"We're not asking them to be law enforcement, but we are asking them, like other industries who have to follow regulations, to follow simple steps," Smith said.

Suncor to increase oil and gas output by up to five per cent in 2025

Suncor to increase output

Photo: The Canadian Press

Suncor Energy Inc. says it will increase oil output next year by up to five per cent and lower costs from its oilsands assets.Pipes lead to a processing unit at Suncor Fort Hills facility in Fort McMurray Alta., on September 10, 2018.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Suncor Energy Inc. is aiming to increase its oil output next year by up to five per cent, as it continues to work to improve its performance and lower costs from its oilsands assets.

In its corporate guidance for 2025, released Thursday, the Calgary-based energy giant said it plans to grow its total oil and gas production to between 810,000 and 840,000 barrels per day next year, up from its 2024 estimated range of 770,000 to 810,000 barrels per day.

The company said its capital expenditure budget for 2025 is between $6.1 billion and $6.3 billion, down from between $6.3 and $6.5 billion in 2024.

Suncor's financial performance has been improving under the leadership of CEO Rich Kruger, who was hired in 2023 to turn the company's fortunes around after a spate of operational challenges and workplace safety incidents.

Suncor is also benefiting from the opening earlier this year of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which has enabled oilsands producers to boost output due to the additional export capacity the pipeline offers.

The company said it is aiming to add more than 100,000 barrels per day of oil and gas production between 2023 and 2026.

Several other Canadian oilsands producers also announced plans Thursday to deliver production growth in 2025.

Imperial Oil Ltd. released its corporate guidance calling for production to grow to between 433,000 and 456,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which works out to a growth rate of approximately three per cent year-over-year.

Cenovus Energy Inc. forecast Thursday a 2025 production increase of approximately four per cent compared with 2024, to an estimated range of between 805,000 and 845,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Canadian crude oil production hit an all-time record in 2023, at 5.1 million barrels per day, as companies ramped up in anticipation of the Trans Mountain expansion's startup. Analysts have suggested that total could increase by as much as 500,000 barrels per day on average this year, though final 2024 figures are not yet available.

In light of the growing production, the government of Alberta — Canada's main oil-producing province — has said it is looking for ways to encourage pipeline companies to boost capacity and increase the province's oil and gas export volumes to the United States.

But Canada's oil industry also faces the challenge of reducing its greenhouse gas footprint, in the face of the climate crisis and the federal government's pledge to cap emissions from the oil and gas sector at 35 to 38 per cent below 2019 levels by 2030.

The industry has said such a target is the equivalent to a cap on production, and would result in job losses and economic harm.

Environmentalists say there is no way that Canada can continue to grow its oil and gas production and still meet its climate targets.

Oilsands companies have jointly pitched a massive carbon capture project through an industry consortium called the Pathways Alliance, a project they say will help them achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Pathways Alliance has not yet made a final decision to go ahead with the project.

Stressed about the cost of the holidays? How to talk to loved ones about cutting back

Talking about cutting back

Photo: The Canadian Press

Experts say it’s common to be stressed about money around the holidays, but that talking to friends and family about your budget — and maybe even agreeing to financial caps on gift-giving — can remove a lot of stress from the holiday season 

When Deidre Cross was tens of thousands of dollars in debt, the holiday season became the tipping point that sparked her journey to get out of the red.

“I would be the person that would still buy the presents and the gifts and stuff, spending money that I didn't have,” said Cross, the founder of Ohh You Budget.

“I would go into overdraft because my credit cards would be maxed out.”

Eventually, Cross knew something had to change. She started talking to her friends and family about financial expectations around the holidays, and being honest about the fact that she couldn't continue keeping up appearances.

“I could not afford it, to the point where it's just like, we have to have this conversation.”

Experts say it’s common to be stressed about money around the holidays, but talking to friends and family about your budget — and maybe even agreeing to financial caps on gift-giving — can remove a lot of anxiety from the holiday season.

“We all know that money is a taboo subject, so it's very hard to address that,” said Angela Iermieri, financial planner at Desjardins.

There’s a lot of social pressure to keep up with everyone else, she said, especially during the holidays when there are a lot of event invitations and gift-giving.

A recent survey by Coast Capital found 72 per cent of respondents are feeling heightened financial pressure due to the holidays. However, the survey found many still plan to spend on gifts, decor and parties as usual.

Yasamin Alami, a chartered professional accountant and assistant professor at University Canada West, said during the holidays, people often spend a lot of time worrying about money: who to buy gifts for, how much to spend.

Talking about that stress can do a lot to take the weight off, said Alami.

“I think it's a really quick conversation, and maybe it is awkward, but having that quick conversation kind of frees up a lot of mental space and rumination over thinking about a gift and what the appropriate value is.”

Often it feels like you need to match the value of someone’s gift and “it becomes this moving target every year,” she said.

It might feel awkward at first, but you might be surprised at how people react when you bring up the topic, said Iermieri.

“Maybe everybody feels the same way, but just doesn't want to say it,” she said.

“What's important in all of this is to be honest with ourselves, if we want to be honest with others.”

Another survey, this one by Ipsos on behalf of Simplii Financial, found that financial constraints are keeping many Canadians at home for the holidays instead of travelling. More than half of the respondents who do plan to travel say they will be staying in their home province, while many are trying to save with cheaper flights and hotels.

Cross agreed that it’s always best to be honest with people if you can’t afford to travel for the holidays, buy expensive gifts or attend every party.

“If you cannot afford something, don't go into debt or try to do something that's not within your means,” she said.

You don’t have to go into too many details, added Iermieri, depending on how close you are with the person, but if you’re comfortable, you could tell people that you’re trying to meet specific financial goals or stick to a budget.

“I think it's important, especially with the people that are closer to you, to not be scared to do that,” she said.

You can suggest setting a price cap on gifts for the season, she said, or suggest a round of Secret Santa, or perhaps a holiday activity in place of gifts.

It’s all about setting boundaries and sticking to them, she said. This may mean checking your calendar and saying no to some party invitations, but that’s better than overspending and having to deal with the credit card bill later.

“It’s very easy to get carried away and say yes to a lot of things,” said Alami.

“So I think being proactive and just setting a budget for yourself is the very first step.”

When you’re telling someone you can’t attend a holiday event, you can suggest scheduling something more budget-friendly, or tell them you’d love to spend time together in the new year, she said.

“The holidays are a time where we fall back on traditions, so it's the concept of we've traditionally done this, or our family does this every year, or my friends expect me to throw this party,” said Alami.

“It's OK to have those conversations to say, 'How about we build some new traditions?'”

US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated

Price pressures stay up

Photo: The AP

FILE - Coca-Cola cans move down a conveyer belt in the Swire Coca-Cola bottling plant Oct. 20, 2023, in Denver.  

Wholesale costs in the United States picked up sharply last month, signaling that price pressures are still evident in the economy even though inflation has tumbled from the peak levels it hit more than two years ago.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 0.4% last month from October, up from 0.3% the month before. Measured from 12 months earlier, wholesale prices climbed 3% in November, the sharpest year-over-year rise since February 2023.

Higher food prices helped fuel the November wholesale inflation reading, which was higher than economists had expected.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices rose 0.2% from October and 3.4% from November 2023.

The wholesale price report comes a day after the government reported that consumer prices rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier, up from an annual gain of 2.6% in October. The increase, fueled by pricier used cars, hotel rooms and groceries, showed that elevated inflation has yet to be fully tamed.

Inflation in consumer prices has plummeted from a four-decade high 9.1% in June 2022. Yet despite having reached relatively low levels, it has so far remained persistently above the Fed’s 2% target.

Despite the modest upticks in inflation last month, the Federal Reserve is poised to cut its benchmark interest rate next week for a third consecutive time. In 2022 and 2023, the Fed raised its key short-term rate 11 times — to a two-decade high — in a drive to reverse an inflationary surge that followed the economy's unexpectedly strong recovery from the COVID-19 recession. The steady cooling of inflation led the central bank, starting in September, to begin reversing that move.

The producer price index released Thursday can offer an early look at where consumer inflation might be headed. Economists also watch it because some of its components, notably healthcare and financial services, flow into the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, index.

Bausch + Lomb exploring several options including a potential sale

Bausch+Lomb potential sale

Photo: The Canadian Press

Bausch + Lomb Corp. logo is shown in a handout. The company says it's exploring several options including a potential sale of the company.  

Bausch + Lomb Corp. says it's exploring several options including a potential sale of the company.

The company made the comment after a request by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization.

It says the company's board authorized management and its advisers to explore a potential sale, which is one of several options being examined to complete a full separation from Bausch Health Companies Inc.

It added that the process is ongoing and there is no assurance that it would result in a transaction.

Bausch + Lomb has a portfolio of about 400 products including contact lenses, lens care products, eye care products and other products.

The company was spun off from Bausch Health Companies, which continues to hold an 88 per cent stake.

DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints

DoorDash safety complaints

Photo: The AP

FILE - A food delivery rider waits for the traffic light to change Monday, March 30, 2020, in Lone Tree, Colo.  

DoorDash will require its drivers to verify their identity more often as part of a larger effort to crack down on unauthorized account sharing.

DoorDash has been under pressure to ensure its drivers are operating legally. Over the summer, it pledged to do a better job identifying and removing dangerous drivers after a flood of complaints of dangerous driving from cities. Officials in Boston, New York and other cities have said that in many cases, people with multiple traffic violations continue making deliveries using accounts registered to others.

The San Francisco delivery company said Thursday it has begun requiring some drivers to complete real-time identity checks immediately after they complete a delivery. Previously, drivers were occasionally asked to re-verify their identity before or after a shift. The new system has been introduced in Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle and other cities and will roll out more widely next year.

DoorDash said it has also developed an advanced machine learning system that can flag potential unauthorized account access, including login anomalies and suspicious activity. If the company detects a problem it will require the driver to re-verify their identity before they can make more deliveries.

Before U.S. drivers can make DoorDash deliveries, they must verify their identity with a driver’s license or other government-issued identification and upload a selfie that matches their identification photo. They also must submit to a background check, which requires a Social Security number.

But the company has found that some drivers are getting around those requirements by sharing accounts with authorized users. In some cases, drivers who haven’t been authorized to drive for DoorDash are paying authorized users for access to their accounts.

Some federal lawmakers have also demanded that DoorDash and other delivery apps do a better job of keeping illegal immigrants off their platforms. Republican U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana and Ted Budd of North Carolina sent letters to delivery companies in April asking them to crack down on account sharing.

“These illegal immigrants are delivering food directly to consumers’ doors without ever having undergone a background check and often without even using their real names,” the letter said. It added that working illegally can also be dangerous for migrants, creating the potential for exploitation and abuse.

DoorDash won’t estimate how many drivers are using shared accounts, but said its safeguards are effective. Last year, it began asking drivers to re-verify their identities monthly by submitting a selfie. The company said it is now asking more than 150,000 drivers to complete selfie checks each week, and it’s removing them from the platform if they don’t comply.

Transat's profit surges thanks to higher passenger traffic, compensation payout

Transat's profit surges

Photo: The Canadian Press

Travel company Transat A.T. Inc. reported a fourth-quarter profit of $41.2 million, up from $3.2 million in the same quarter last year. 

Transat A.T. Inc. reported a big boost in profits in its latest quarter, driven by millions of dollars in compensation from an engine maker as well as an uptick in passenger figures.

Net income surged to $41.2 million in the three months ended Oct. 31 versus $3.2 million in the same period a year earlier, the travel company said.

About $33.6 million of those earnings came from aircraft engine giant Pratt & Whitney, which dolled out the compensation after recalling its turbofans for inspection and repair. Air Transat, one of many airlines hit by the recall, had grounded a half-dozen planes by this fall as a result.

The profit increase also owes to a nearly three per cent rise in passenger traffic, Transat said in a release Thursday.

Chief executive Annick Guérard maintained a cautiously optimistic outlook for the year ahead.

"The decline in inflation and interest rates also suggests an increase in consumers' discretionary spending. This situation should provide a suitable backdrop to deliver further yield improvements," she said.

"However, we remain in a period of high economic uncertainty, leading us to exercise caution."

The company offered no update on efforts to refinance its balance sheet. Net debt at the end of the quarter stood at more than $2 billion.

On an adjusted basis, Transat reported earnings of 67 cents per share for its fourth quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 41 cents per share a year earlier. The results far exceeded analysts' expectations, according to financial markets firm LSEG Data & Analytics, largely because of the compensation from Pratt & Whitney.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $788.8 million, up three per cent from $764.5 million a year ago.

Transat's capacity rose four per cent compared with the year before.

Statistics Canada says household debt-to-disposable income ratio falls in Q3

Household funds shift

Photo: The Canadian Press

Statistics Canada says the amount Canadian households owe relative to their income fell in the third quarter as a rise in disposable income outpaced the growth in debt.  

Statistics Canada says the amount Canadian households owe relative to their income fell in the third quarter as a rise in disposable income outpaced the growth in debt.

It was the sixth consecutive quarter that the measure declined.

The agency says the ratio of household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income in the third quarter fell to 173.1 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 175.3 per cent in the second quarter.

In other words, Statistics Canada says there was $1.73 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income.

The move came as the household debt service ratio — measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income — fell to 14.72 per cent in the third quarter compared with 14.98 per cent in the second quarter.

Debt payments rose 0.2 per cent as disposable income gained two per cent.

Air Canada to offer free Wi-Fi on flights for Aeroplan members, sponsored by Bell

Free Wi-Fi with aeroplan

Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Air Canada is set to offer free Wi-Fi to Aeroplan members aboard its flights starting next year, building on a partnership with telecom giant Bell.  

Air Canada plans to offer free Wi-Fi to Aeroplan members aboard its flights starting next year, building on a partnership with telecom giant Bell that already gives passengers free text messaging capabilities.

The airline said Thursday that the Bell-sponsored internet service will be available on all Wi-Fi equipped aircraft for North American and Central American flights beginning in May 2025, followed by long-haul international routes in 2026.

It said passengers can expect "streaming-quality" service on Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and most Air Canada Express aircraft.

Mark Nasr, Air Canada's executive vice-president of marketing and digital, and president of Aeroplan, said free Wi-Fi is something that customers have been increasingly asking for.

"We think it's becoming a core expectation of customers whether they're travelling for business or for leisure," Nasr said in an interview.

"We said, 'Let's get the installations done first. Let's make sure that when we announce this, it's available at a critical mass.'"

Air Canada currently offers a range of Wi-Fi packages on select flights for a fee, starting at $6.50 for a prepaid one-hour pass. A $21 one-way pass allows passengers to browse the internet for the duration of their flight, while a monthly plan costs $65.95.

It says all three options offer savings over prices paid when purchasing in-flight. Non-Aeroplan members will still be able to pay for Wi-Fi packages, Nasr said.

Earlier this year, WestJet and Telus Corp. announced their own partnership to provide free internet service aboard flights for members of that airline’s loyalty program starting this month.

The companies said in July that Wi-Fi connectivity for WestJet Rewards members would be delivered through Starlink, which provides internet service through its low-earth orbit satellites. WestJet plans to equip all of its modern narrow-body fleet for the free Wi-Fi service by the end of 2025, with wide-body aircraft to follow by the end of 2026.

Porter Airlines also already offers free Wi-Fi for passengers on its Embraer E195-E2 fleet, a service it announced in 2022.

More than two-thirds of Air Canada's Boeing 737 MAX fleet is currently equipped to offer Wi-Fi, but the airline said it plans to upgrade the remainder by next year. It will also install Wi-Fi capability on the "majority" of its Air Canada Express fleet servicing regional Canadian and U.S. routes.

The Air Canada announcement builds on an existing free Wi-Fi texting service for Aeroplan members first announced in May 2023, which is also sponsored by Bell.

That service gives members of the loyalty program travelling worldwide on Wi-Fi-equipped airplanes the ability to send and receive messages on apps such as Apple’s iMessage, Meta’s WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Rakuten’s Viber and Google Messages.

Access is available on any Wi-Fi capable device, no matter the passenger’s mobile carrier.