The U.S. is not the only one with a driver shortage problem. The Ontario Trucking Association in Canada is calling on the provincial government to launch a pilot program that would allow freight carriers to bring in immigrant workers to fill a critical driver shortage.
The driver shortage across the border is caused by the same problems faced in the U.S. like an aging workforce.
“The driver shortage became more acute in 2018 due to the fact that we have a large percentage of individuals over the age of 55 driving… We’re facing older demographics, more retirements and, at the same time, more demand,” said Stephen Laskowski, president of the Ontario Trucking Association and also president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance.
While the American Trucking Associations estimates the current shortage in the U.S. to be over 50,000 drivers and that by the year 2026, the shortage will have reached 175,000. According to a 2016 study conducted by the Trucking Alliance of Canada, the industry will be short 34,000 drivers by 2024.
While proposed strategies in the U.S. include apprenticeship programs to prepare 18-20 year olds for interstate commercial driving, Laskowski says that his association is pursuing a different option. The CTA and OTA are appealing to the Ontario province to study how immigration policy could be leveraged to solve the truck driver shortage.
The groups want the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program to launch a pilot program focused on attracting immigrants to the trucking workforce.
