ESDC has issued Interpretations, Policies and Guidelines (or ‘IPGs’) for new labour provisions which address some of the Canadian Trucking Alliance’s significant concerns with the new rules coming into force Sept. 1.

IPGs are intended to ensure that legislation is interpreted consistently by enforcement officials and that programs are delivered effectively across the country by Labour Program employees. In this, these IPGs are particularly important for enforcement purposes.

Based on these IPGs, the following positions in trucking will not be subject the 96-hour notice of work schedules and 24 hours’ notice of shift changes when the provisions take effect Sept. 1:

• Truck Driver (also exempt from 8-hour consecutive rest period between shifts)
• Courier Driver
• Material Handlers/Warehouse Workers
• Shipper-Receiver

Essentially, when it comes to enforcement, it is CTA’s expectation that carriers and the job classes identified above should be able to operate as usual going forward or until further notice from ESDC. CTA will be working with ESDC to address potential outstanding concerns related to other job titles the Alliance believes needs the same enforcement exemption approach.

Over the past months, CTA and all the freight modes have expressed significant concerns over new labour provisions, which would essentially remove flexibility for employers when scheduling workers as well as hamper and a carrier’s ability to react to timely customer demands and unplanned disruptions in the supply chain. As a continuous-operations industry, these and other provisions posed serious problems for both trucking and the overall economy.

On behalf of the industry, CTA prepared a request for exemptions to these provisions. Countless other organizations from different sectors in the supply chain also lent their direct support to CTA in this campaign.

While CTA and other freight sectors maintained that sectoral exemptions were imperative to certain provisions, like scheduling, ESDC maintained that a case for exemptions had to be made on a position-by-position basis. As such, CTA prepared a document highlighting several positions related to moving loads and the fluctuating nature of trucking that required exemptions from new proposals.

“CTA supports modern labour standards. However, the Alliance has always held the position that any new standards that come into place must make sense for the industry and the customers we serve,” said CTA president Stephen Laskowski.