Responsible Travel

Change the world just by having the time of your life.

We have always believed in the life-changing power of travel, but for that power to exist we need to travel the right way. Since the very beginning, CanadaWay’ vision for travelling responsibly has meant giving back as much — if not more — than what you take away. Yes, travel should be incredibly fun (have you been on one of our tours?), but we also believe travel needs to be a force for good. For you, for local communities around the world, and for the world itself — we call it “community tourism.” See how we do it below.

A lot of companies use “sustainability” or “sustainable travel” to talk about exploring the world in a better way, but we’ve never been ones to follow in others’ footsteps or borrow out-dated ideas. Our commitment to making travel a force for good is different — so we call it G for Good.

It stands for all of the social, environmental, and ethical good we create as a business which helps to fuel community tourism. Which is… you ask? It means our tours are built on meaningful relationships with local communities and directly benefit the people and places we visit. Today, our definition of community tourism means that the communities we positively impact ripples far beyond these destinations, to include our employees, supplier and agent partners, small business owners, customers, social followers, and travellers like you.

G for Good is what makes us, us. With your help, we can make travel the force for good we’ve known it can be since our company was established over three decades ago.

Acting Responsibly

Our efforts to protect and conserve our world fall under two approaches. The first, Acting Responsibly, is our commitment to improve the sustainability of our own operations. You can’t create change without taking action — so that’s what we’ve done. If you want to make sure your next trip follows these guidelines, all you have to do is travel with us!

Animal Welfare

CanadaWay recognizes the importance of animal welfare. That’s why we have worked with experts from World Animal Protection, The Jane Goodall Institute and The World Cetacean Alliance to draw up a robust policy, which builds on the ABTA Global Welfare Guidelines for Animals in Tourism and puts the needs of animals first. We want to ensure that all animals featured on our tours are treated humanely.

Child Welfare

It is critical that no child is ever harmed as a result of tourism. Travellers have the power and responsibility to make a true impact in the communities they visit, and that’s why we actively work to ensure child welfare is protected in the places we operate. We were also the first global travel company to achieve Friend’s International ChildSafe certification.

Climate Action

With all the good global travel does for local communities, it’s an unfortunate truth that the industry produces environmentally harmful carbon dioxide. That’s why we signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism and got to work on halving our carbon footprint by 2030. Want to know exactly how we and our travellers are going about it? Read on to review our full Climate-Biodiversity Action Plan.

Respecting local cultures

Connecting curious travellers with Indigenous communities is an essential part of our identity at CanadaWay. We are committed to respecting the rights, history, and culture of Indigenous people while ensuring that tourism supports their well-being.

Plastics Partnership Project

Plastic pollution is a huge global problem. CanadaWay is working with our partners to eliminate as much single-use plastic on our tours as possible.

Traveller Conduct Policy

We believe travel should be a respectful, safe, and enjoyable experience for everyone. We’re a community of diverse individuals united by a profound respect for, and enthusiastic belief in, our values and each other. That’s why we designed a set of guidelines to help establish a sense of safety, security, and happiness for all on any of our tours. This includes our staff members, partner suppliers, and the local people and cultures in the destinations we visit.

Creating Positive Impact

Creating Positive Impact is our second approach to responsible travel. These initiatives focus on leaving the right impact in the places you visit with us.

Established in 2003, Planeterra is our non-profit partner dedicated to ensuring communities touched by tourism benefit from the opportunities it provides. They help empower local people to develop their communities, conserve their cultures, and create humane and supportive systems for their endeavours.

Visit the Planeterra website

Planeterra-supported initiatives

Our mission has always been a simple one — to help people thrive through solutions, not handouts. We do this by providing the resources and opportunities for local people in the areas we serve, enabling them to develop and strengthen their initiatives with support from Planeterra. Then, our network of travellers provide these communities with the long-term income to make these solutions sustainable.

Ripple Score

You deserve to see exactly what we mean when we say we’re changing lives through travel. Our Ripple Score does just that. On a scale of one to 100, this score shows you how much of your money spent in destination goes towards using local services on your tour. The higher the score, the more money that is staying in the local community. Look for it on your trip itinerary.

G Values Fund

Our CEOs are the best tour leaders the world has to offer. The G Values Fund helps them further provide amazing experiences to our travellers with low interest loans that bring their travel business ideas to life.

Grow one tree for every travel day

Help us spread love around the world — with Trees for Days! Thanks to a new initiative with Planeterra, we’ll grow a tree in your name for each day of your trip.

LGBTQ+ inclusivity at CanadaWay

Our team around the world deeply values diversity, inclusivity, and the power of community. Every traveller deserves to feel valued and to be their authentic selves on their journey with us. See all of the ways we wholeheartedly embrace and support the LGBTQ+ community on tour, in our culture, and around the world.

Additional Responsible Travel Commitments

Here are more ways you can see our commitment to spreading G for Good around the world.

Our Modern Slavery Statement

CanadaWay is committed to understanding all potential modern slavery risks related to our business and to putting steps into place to ensure there is no slavery or human trafficking in our operations.