Canada truck training gap exposed as foreign approvals surge

Ontario’s auditor general sent undercover students to six private career colleges; two truck-driver programs delivered only 59.5 and 81 hours against a required 103.5 hours and omitted essential driving maneuvers.

The May report said students at those programs missed left turns at major intersections, reverse parking and emergency stopping. Twenty-four criminal charges were laid against eight people in January after an Ontario Provincial Police investigation into alleged fraudulent commercial driving exams in Kingston and the Toronto area; police alleged that bribes were exchanged for favourable treatment during road tests.

Federal truck-driver position approvals through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program rose more than fivefold from 1,584 in 2018 to 8,101 in 2024, before falling in 2025.

What do the audits reveal?

Government audits, roadside inspections and police investigations have exposed more than classroom gaps, including shortcomings in truck maintenance and driver licensing. Industry representatives say some employers seek minimally adequate training to qualify recruits quickly.

Complying carriers bear training, maintenance and employment costs that noncompliant rivals can avoid. For shippers and forwarders, that split turns regulatory diligence into a supply-chain control rather than an administrative box check.

Jonathan Blackham, the Canadian Trucking Alliance’s director of policy and public affairs, said: “We’re seeing two industries emerging. One makes investments in their people and equipment and another growing segment has little regard for labour practices, tax compliance, safety and training.”

Blackham said some lower-cost operators can leave drivers without training or support, misclassify them, take unpaid time and pressure them to accept unsafe conditions, raising worker-exploitation and public-safety concerns.

Ken Adams, chairman of the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario, told a House of Commons standing committee in October 2026 that some carriers bought or influenced schools to fast-track recruits through bare-bones programs, undermine provincial licensing standards and shift training liability onto themselves.

Monette said the so-called Driver Inc. model, which treats employees as independent contractors, cuts workforce costs by 20% to 30% by avoiding payroll contributions and benefits, giving noncompliant carriers a direct cost advantage.

In 2005, Kate Shingler drove a Toyota Tercel along the remote, snowbound Plaster Rock Highway in central New Brunswick. An unknown trucker let her use his radio and drove her in his 18-wheeler cab until her husband collected her.

She recalled that the driver made her feel safe, a memory that captures the professional image the industry’s 21-year transformation has placed under scrutiny.

Why did deregulation split the industry?

Canada’s fragmentation traces to the 1980s, when the United States reduced trucking regulation to increase competition and lower freight rates. Canada followed in 1987, easing who could operate a carrier, where it could haul freight and, in some cases, what it could charge.

Christopher Monette, Teamsters Canada’s director of public affairs, said the reforms let anyone with a truck start a company, producing what he called cutthroat competition, massive oversupply and sharply lower freight rates. The union represents thousands of drivers.

Monette said that displacement pushed out established carriers that paid higher wages and invested in training, safety and maintenance. Their retreat stagnated wages, weakened conditions and eroded the image of truckers as skilled professionals.

Bryon Slade entered trucking in 1976 at age 19, following his father, a delivery driver for the now-defunct Simpsons department store. He loaded and unloaded freight, shunted trucks around yards and drove small trucks on city routes before earning tractor-trailer highway turns.

Employers once kept him off the highway until they judged him safe and capable, but deregulation changed that gatekeeping. Slade retired in 2020 and said new drivers lacked training, trucks went poorly maintained and distracted, dangerous driving worsened.

How is the workforce model changing?

Stagnant wages, demanding work and long stretches away from home have made the occupation less attractive to younger workers, pushing employers toward temporary foreign workers.

Labour advocates say some carriers favor temporary foreign workers and recent immigrants because the newcomers may accept lower pay, hesitate to criticize conditions or avoid union and labour-board complaints. Teamsters Canada also warns that they risk classification as independent contractors.

Legitimate independent contracting is legal, but misclassifying employees violates federal labour law and lets carriers avoid employer payroll and benefit obligations.

Which provinces are changing the rules?

• Ontario: In September, the province announced a standardized curriculum for entry-level truck drivers; it also considered fatigue management and driving in northern and remote areas.
• Quebec: Mandatory training for new truck drivers began in December 2025.
• Alberta: An apprenticeship-style licensing system requires more training before a driver can operate outside the province.
• Nova Scotia: The province committed to mandatory entry-level training.
• Manitoba: The province strengthened enforcement targeting unsafe carriers and companies trying to evade regulatory oversight.

Industry observers say enforcement of existing law can deliver more impact than new legislation.

Kim Richardson, senior adviser with the Professional Truck Training Alliance of Canada, said: “The problem is compliance, regulation and enforcement.” He said penalties are often too small to deter repeat violations, allowing some companies to treat fines as a business expense.

Monette agreed that enforcement could have a large impact without new laws. Blackham said holding carriers responsible for training and worker treatment would prevent compliant operators from carrying an unfair cost disadvantage and create a level playing field.

Richardson said recognizing commercial truck driving as a skilled trade is essential to rebuilding professionalism and public confidence, with qualifications matching the responsibility of operating some of the largest vehicles on Canadian roads.

The policy trajectory now runs toward standardized training and firmer enforcement in several provinces. The commercial test is whether penalties and inspections can erase the 20% to 30% labour-cost advantage Monette attributed to worker misclassification; if not, compliant carriers will remain undercut and safety gaps will persist.