The Government of Canada held the National Supply Chain Summit on January 31, 2022, hosted by Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra. The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) and other stakeholders were present to discuss the key challenges and opportunities facing Canada’s supply chains and the actions and strategies required to support a robust economic recovery.
The labour shortage has been a long-standing issue with the industry forecasting a vacancy of 55,000 drivers by the end of 2023. In regard to the soaring vacancy rates the commercial road transportation sector is experiencing, CTA provided the following recommendations:
- Attract Canadians to our sector. CTA would like to work with the Government of Canada to amplify a three-year national public relations and social media campaign CTA initiated last year.
- Develop a training support fund. This fund would only be accessible for trusted ‘known’ employers and would support both pre-licensing training and onboarding/on the job training for commercial drivers.
- Employer program for Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and other immigration programs. Have the application process streamlined when it comes to Labour Market Impact Assessments and a clear path for permanent residency for new entrants in the program.
To address the current supply chain constraints, the CTA recommends the following action:
- Allow Canadians to travel in-transit between Canada and United States.
- Better utilization of trucking equipment by customers. The Government of Canada can help to promote this issue between carriers and their customers to address severely delayed loading/unloading and get more efficiency out of the current driver population.
- Enforcement on the underground economy. Unethical payment schemes (i.e. Driver Inc.) some carriers are participating in strips drivers of their rights and causes an unstable supply chain. A national crackdown is needed to strengthen the supply chain and protect its labour pool.
The CTA will continue to provide updates on communicating supply chain challenges and potential solutions to the federal government as the process continues. For full details, please see the CTA News Release.