National Capital Region's Top Employers (2025) - Flipbook - Page 28
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NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
Growth and collaboration take off at NAV CANADA
D
iana Kelly’s plan
to become an
elementary school
teacher changed
in her third year of
university, when she decided to
follow in her father’s footsteps and
become an air traffic controller. In
2000, she joined NAV CANADA
in Winnipeg. “I joined a maledominated profession as a young
woman,” she says. “I’m happy to
report that today, more women
are interested in a profession in
aviation.”
Ottawa-based NAV CANADA
is a privately run, non-profit
corporation that owns and operates Canada’s civil air navigation
system. After working in several
different areas and roles, Kelly
became chief human resources
officer in 2022. “It’s such exciting
and meaningful work to provide
safe aircraft movement in Canada
– our employees really connect to
the purpose of our company,” she
says.
NAV CANADA supports its
teams, prioritizes their wellbeing and fosters a culture of
care through wellness and peer
support programs. It strives to
create a psychologically safe
environment where every employee feels respected, heard and
empowered to thrive personally
and professionally. “By championing these values, we aim to build
a workplace where everyone can
bring their best selves to work
each day,” says Kelly.
Saira Kanani appreciates that
NAV CANADA is a safe place
to be your authentic self. “As a
female South Asian employee, it’s
nice to come to work without any
layers of discomfort because it is
a healthy work environment,” she
says. “NAV CANADA has done a
lot of work and continues to build
a culture of acceptance.”
Since she joined NAV CANADA
in 2013 as a senior internal auditor,
Kanani has benefited from many
opportunities to grow professionally. In 2015, she moved into
her current position as manager
of internal audit. “I’m always
learning – every project is exciting
and comes with a great deal of
new knowledge,” she says.
Acquiring knowledge at the
outset was vital, because when
Kanani arrived, she knew very
little about the aviation industry.
“I knew that planes fly, and that
there are air traffic controllers
in towers, but that was about it,”
she says. “I didn’t understand the
effort and professional skills that
go into safe aviation until I started
working here.”
It’s such exciting and
meaningful work to provide
safe aircraft movement
in Canada.
— Diana Kelly
Chief Human
Resources Officer
Employees at NAV CANADA discuss air navigation at the organization’s head office in Ottawa.
In fact, the organization’s purpose is at the heart of everyone’s
work. “It trickles into all of the
groups across the organization,”
says Kanani. “Everyone has a role
to play.”
In addition to offering rewarding work, NAV CANADA gives
back to the communities it serves,
with a focus on sustainability and
giving to those in need. That could
mean supporting cancer research,
providing flights for disadvantaged Canadians to medical appointments and working to reduce
the environmental footprint in
the aviation industry. “We’re very
embedded in communities, and
giving back is important to us,”
says Kelly.
If employees are interested, they
can move across the organization
