MONTREAL, Nov. 20, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada is asking Canadians to help select the winner of the Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award 2013. Starting today, voters can go to www.aircanada.com/athleteoftheyear and vote for one of three finalists for the Award who were chosen for demonstrating a drive for excellence, leadership and integrity. The voting ends December 6 with the winner to be announced December 12.

"Air Canada is a proud sponsor of Canada's Olympic Team and we want to highlight that although the Olympic Games only occur at four-year intervals, being an Olympian requires ongoing commitment, hard work and competing constantly on the World Championship circuit. Such devotion is truly inspiring and through this award we are keeping the spotlight on Canada's athletes and raising awareness of their years of dedication leading up to the Olympic Games where they compete for Canada," said Craig Landry, Vice President of Marketing at Air Canada.

The inaugural Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award was presented last year to soccer player Christine Sinclair. In order to raise the athletes' profiles and engage all Canadians, this year's winner will be chosen by a public vote from a short-list of finalists selected by a committee representing Air Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, athletes, the government, media and also last year's Award winner. This year's finalists are:

• Charles Hamelin, of Sainte-Julie, Quebec, short track speed skating
• Kaillie Humphries, of Calgary, Alberta, bobsledding
• Mark McMorris, of Regina, Saskatchewan, Slopestyle Snowboard

The winner will receive two Business Class tickets to anywhere in the world Air Canada flies, as well as Super Elite™ 100K status in Air Canada's Altitude program for one year. To cast your vote now, visit www.aircanada.com/athleteoftheyear

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 175 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2012 served close to 35 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 49 destinations in the United States and 67 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,328 destinations in 195 countries.  Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.

SOURCE Air Canada