Where instructed by Public Health Authorities, including on flights to/from/within Nunavut, Canadian North ensures that passengers are seated together based on their departure points. For example, passengers from isolation hubs are seated separately from essential workers who may not have passed through isolation hubs.

We are maintaining regular passenger capacity to bring more customers to the people and places that matter to you. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the layered risk mitigation in place during flights makes being seated in a full row of passengers equivalent to being 7 feet apart from others in an indoor space. Learn more about their research here.

In the context of the COVID-19 virus, these are all of the additional steps taken to keep passengers and employees safe. Many of the steps that affect you directly are outlined in our Canadian North Care tabs on this page. You’ll learn more about how we’re reducing the risk of transmission on-board on this page and in the other tabs.

The risk mitigation factors in place during flights include the downward airflow in a pressurized aircraft, the constant entry of fresh air into the cabin, the separation of passenger rows provided by seats, and your best personal protection; your mask.

Flying in a full row of passengers with mitigations is equivalent to being 7 feet apart in an indoor space. Learn more about how layered risk mitigation works in-flight on the IATA website.

Anyone who has recently tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and has not been officially cleared of the virus will not be admitted on our flights. Although we cannot guarantee that no one is carrying the virus, we conduct mandatory health checks with each passenger as directed by Transport Canada to reduce the risk of transmission and are following Territorial Government policies. Learn more about the additional layers mandated by northern regions here.

“With just 44 published cases of potential inflight COVID-19 transmission among 1.2 billion travelers [in 2020], the risk of contracting the virus on board appears to be in the same category as being struck by lightning,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO of IATA.

Canadian North follows all of the recommended steps to keep employees and passengers safe.

We provide all of our passengers with CN Care kits that include a mask, sanitizing gel, and sanitizing wipes to help you better control your own safety and reduce risks to your health. We recommend:

• Wiping the high-touch surfaces that were sanitized before your flight between uses
• Removing your mask only for short periods of time to sip water or have a snack
• Bringing snacks you won’t need to touch with your fingers or utensils for those snacks (in-flight service is reduced to water bottle service only)
• Employing any other measures recommended by health officials that you’d take during your everyday activities

The same layered risk mitigation recommendations apply to reducing the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.

Yes. According to a Coronavirus study from Harvard University, mandatory face mask requirements are perhaps the most essential layer of a comprehensive set of measures to reduce transmission of these airborne viruses throughout air travel. 

We sanitize high-touch surfaces with hospital-preferred disinfectant cleaners on every leg of the journey (every time passengers board and deplane, including flights with multiple stops and between each flight). At the end of each flight day, aircraft interiors are fogged with an electrostatic spray and groomed by professional cleaners.