Strat Cann report
Certain employees with Quebec’s Air Transat cannot consume cannabis at any time, even when they are not working, according to a recent arbitration.
In a case posted on May 7, 2026, first reported by the National Post, the arbitration award dismissed a grievance filed by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 4041, against Air Transat regarding a policy prohibiting all cannabis consumption by flight attendants and flight directors, positions deemed as “high-risk”.
The policy had been put in place after cannabis was fully legalized in Canada in 2018, leading to the implementation of Air Transat’s zero-tolerance policy, including recreational use by cabin crew.
The Union argued that the total prohibition violated employees’ right to privacy, claiming that the legalization of cannabis made the ban unreasonable and that safety concerns alone were insufficient justification.
The Tribunal rejected this argument, upholding the company’s policy, concluding that the zero-tolerance ban on cannabis consumption was reasonable and constituted a justified infringement of the employees’ privacy rights under the circumstances.
The policy was deemed proportional to the safety objective because of the scientific uncertainty surrounding cannabis’s residual effects, given the “extreme circumstances” of the aviation industry.
The Union cited a Supreme Court case that upheld a previous arbitration board’s decision that ruled that an employer’s mandatory random alcohol testing infringed on employee privacy.
However, Air Transat’s experts successfully argued that cannabis is eliminated from the body differently than alcohol, meaning a simple time-based abstinence rule (like the 12-hour rule for alcohol) would not be scientifically reliable or provide a sufficient safety margin for cannabis use.
The Tribunal ultimately decided that the lack of conclusive scientific data on residual effects of cannabis, coupled with the high-risk nature of the flight attendant position, made the zero-tolerance policy reasonably necessary to ensure the maximum level of safety on flight.
In the wake of cannabis legalization in Canada, many employers have updated their cannabis-use policies. The RCMP shifted from a strict 28-day restriction on cannabis use for officers after October 17, 2018, to a flexible “fit for duty” standard in January 2024.
Cannabis consumption for Canadian Armed Forces members is banned entirely while serving on deployments or exercises. All personnel must abstain for at least eight hours before duty, while those handling weapons or vehicles face a 24-hour ban. High-risk positions, such as those involving high-altitude parachuting or diving, require 28 days of abstinence.
For Transport Canada, flight crews like pilots and flight engineers, along with air traffic controllers, are prohibited from consuming cannabis for at least 28 days before reporting to work.
Air Canada also enforces a strict zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy that prohibits the use of cannabis for all employees in safety-sensitive or safety-critical positions at all times, on or off duty.
In 2024, a federal labour arbitrator allowed Air Canada to test a strand of a flight attendant’s hair for cannabis, following a union grievance.
Arbitrator Upholds Air Transat’s Zero-Tolerance Cannabis Ban
