MONTREAL, Sept. 30, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada has been ranked among the top five most attractive companies to work for in Canada according to a survey of 7,000 Canadian jobseekers and workers conducted by Randstad Canada and ICMA International.

"It is a great honour for Air Canada, and a reflection of our commitment to excellence in a global market, to be recognized as one of the most attractive companies to work for in Canada," said Kevin Howlett, Senior Vice President, Employee Relations who accepted Air Canada's award at the Randstad Award ceremony held in Toronto last night. "Although in today's challenging economic climate jobs are at a premium, the fact remains that those with talent and ambition are still able to choose their careers and where they wish to pursue them. That Randstad has identified Air Canada as such a place, where people want to work and find professional fulfillment, is really a tremendous compliment to our organization."

Each year, Air Canada receives on average 70 applications for each position it seeks to fill. Air Canada employs 26,000 people across Canada and world wide.

About the Randstad Award

The Randstad Award program is based on a robust research platform that gives unique insight into the key drivers of talent attraction within Canada and across the world. Randstad has been working with globally respected research company, ICMA International, for over 10 years. In 2000, Randstad and ICMA launched the first Randstad Award program in Belgium to measure employer brands. Based on its success, Randstad had expanded the research program into 11 countries around the world and is being brought to Canada for the first time. The scale of the employer branding research behind the Award is unrivalled internationally. This year alone, the Randstad Award research has gathered data from 100,000 jobseekers globally.

The Randstad Award survey is based on the perceived attractiveness of companies in a specific market. The 150 largest employers per country are selected, each with at least 1,000 employees. The number of respondents on average per market is 7,000. This is a representative sample to measure attractiveness of the 150 companies. Samples are based on national demographics (age, region, gender, education level) with a slight emphasis on respondents aged below 40, potential workers being the target audience of the survey. Each sample is representative on age, region and gender and includes students, employed and unemployed workforce aged between 18 and 65 years old. Visit randstadawards.ca

About Air Canada

Air Canada was ranked Best International Airline in North America in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by independent research firm Skytrax for its 2011 World Airline Awards. Also in 2011, Air Canada received top honours for Best Flight Experience to Canada in Executive Travel magazine's 2011 Leading Edge Awards readers' survey, for the fourth consecutive year. In 2010, Air Canada took five top honours in Business Traveler's 'Best in Business Travel' award program, the most first place awards won my any airline in the world in the influential magazine's reader survey. Readers of Global Traveler magazine voted Air Canada Best Airline in North America, for the sixth consecutive year in their 2010 reader survey.

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international full-service airline providing scheduled and charter air transportation for passengers and cargo to more than 175 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and serves over 32 million customers annually. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 52 destinations in the United States and 64 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,160 destinations in 181 countries. Air Canada customers can collect Aeroplan miles for future rewards through Canada's leading loyalty program, and Top Tier members enjoy reciprocal frequent flyer benefits including lounge and priority services. For more information visit aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.