Cabin crew requirements for Canadians in 2026: Air Canada, WestJet, Porter, Transat and Rouge compared on age, height, languages and the medical
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#1 WestJet Calgary, five years, and the Canadian threads on here are all base and contract. Nobody has written the requirements side by side. Here it is for the five Canadian options, as they apply this year.
Age
All five: 18 or 19 minimum depending on the province of the base, no maximum, and all five hire across the age range. Canadian human rights law makes age a non factor and the cabins show it.
Height and reach
Air Canada: a reach requirement (about 208 cm) rather than a height minimum. WestJet: similar, tested at the assessment on a mock bin. Porter: a reach on the E195 E2 bins, lower than the wide bodies. Transat: a reach for the A330 and A321. Rouge: as Air Canada. None publish a strict height number. All test the reach.
Languages
Air Canada and Rouge: bilingual French and English strongly preferred, effectively required for most hires (Emilie's thread). WestJet: English required, French an advantage for the Quebec flying, other languages a plus. Porter: English, French for the Montreal base and an advantage elsewhere. Transat: bilingual preferred, French required for the Montreal base. If you are an Anglophone, WestJet and Porter are the friendliest doors.
Education
High school completion at all five. A degree is neutral. Customer service experience is what they want and it is weighted more than education everywhere.
The medical
A Transport Canada cabin crew medical requirement that is satisfied by the airline's pre employment medical: vision corrected to a standard, hearing, general health, and a declaration. Less formal than EASA, similar to the US. Colour vision is checked. The swimming is a training requirement at all five, tested during training, with a standard around 50 metres and the life jacket drill.
Tattoos and grooming
All five have relaxed in recent years: visible tattoos within limits are allowed at WestJet, Porter and Transat, and Air Canada has moved to a policy that allows some. None allow face or neck tattoos. Grooming standards are practical and gender neutral in the policy language, which is unusual and Canadian.
Right to work
Canadian citizenship or permanent residence. No visa sponsorship at any of the five. This is the absolute filter for the international readers.
Criminal record
A clean record for the airport security clearance (the RAIC), which is a federal check and takes weeks. A minor old offence is a conversation; a recent one is a problem.
Summary for an Anglophone Canadian with retail experience and no French
WestJet and Porter first, Transat outside Montreal, Air Canada and Rouge if you will learn French. For a bilingual Canadian: all five are open and the choice is network and base. For an international reader: get the residence first, then this list.
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#2 Air Canada, and Holly's French summary is exactly right: strongly preferred and effectively required. The Anglophones who get in are the ones the Toronto and Vancouver bases can absorb, and there are fewer of them each year.
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#3 Porter, and the E2 reach being lower is a real thing for shorter candidates. Two people in my training were at the limit for the wide bodies and comfortable on the E2. Porter is the short person's friendly door in Canada.
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#4 Transat Montreal, and bilingual is required for our base and preferred for Toronto. The tattoo relaxation is real: my colleague has a forearm piece under the sleeve and nobody has said a word in three years.
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#5 WestJet Vancouver, and the RAIC timing is the thing new hires forget. The federal check took me six weeks and the training date waited for it. Start the paperwork the day of the offer.
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#6 Rouge, and the grooming policy being gender neutral in the language is a Canadian thing I did not appreciate until I read the Gulf threads. Our policy says 'hair must be neat'. Theirs says what neat is, in paragraphs.
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#7 Vancouver, and the no visa sponsorship line should be in bold for the international readers who message every Canadian on this forum. Residence first. There is no other route.
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#8 Air Canada Toronto, and I would add: the medical is easy, the RAIC is slow, the French is the wall, the reach is tested. That is the Canadian requirements in one sentence.
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#9 @joeltoronto that sentence should have been the title. Adding the RAIC timing to my notes for the next Calgary batch.