In a recent letter to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) outlined the growing constraints carriers face when trying to attract qualified labour.
In the correspondence, CTA notes the truck driver shortage is a challenge for trucking companies now but will soon affect the larger economy as the supply chain struggles to secure truck transportation services.
CTA explains how the industry is taking steps to address the labour shortage– from increasing wages to better marketing the opportunities – but carriers also need greater access to immigration channels to be able to overcome of the labour constraints and grow at the pace of the demand for their services.
The federal government plans to grow overall immigration levels from 310,000 new Canadians in 2018 to 340,000 in 2020. Consequently, CTA stressed there needs to be a focus on attracting and matching new Canadians with industries like trucking that are in demand and facing severe labour shortages.
The letter also states that while the current initiative is underway, it would also be prudent for the government to begin planning for beyond 2021.