At his first post-election press conference, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his government’s plan to cap the number of international students and temporary foreign workers.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is advising the Government of Canada and the future cabinet that immigration reform policy shouldn’t just be based on the number of immigrants, but also how newcomers are brought to Canada, which sectors they work for and, most importantly, scrutinizing the employers that employ these workers and ensuring all labour standards are laws are upheld.
“The Canadian Trucking Alliance has said repeatedly that immigration is one of the key pieces of the puzzle to address chronic driver shortages in our country,” said CTA President and CEO Stephen Laskowski. “But we need to prioritize the protection of workers and weed out abuse and forced labour that we know is taking place.”
CTA believes it’s time the Government of Canada works with the trucking industry to introduce a mandatory Known Employer Program that will match labour demand to legitimate, compliant trucking operations while protecting foreign workers from immigration consultants, truck driving schools and fleet owners that continue to exploit these workers within a broken immigration system.
Two recent CBC articles focusing on immigration labour abuses tied to the trucking sector highlight the tip of the iceberg these challenges present to the Canadian trucking industry and the Canadian immigration system.
CTA will be working with the Government of Canada and the Government of the U.S. to address these labour abuses in the domestic and international trucking supply chain.