Canada Falling Short for Available Drivers: Trucking HR Canada

Truck Driver Shortage In Canada

Trucking HR Canada has recently released their Labour Market Snapshot for October 2021.  In it, they claim that Canada does not have the ability to meet the current needs of the trucking labour market.

In this Labour Market Snapshot, one of the regular reports published by Trucking HR Canada to provide information on the state of Canada’s trucking labour market, surveyed employers are not finding enough applicants for vacant positions – and those that do apply often lack the necessary experience.

Certain groups of people have been affected more heavily than others.  During job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, women faced 15.9% of the decline in the trucking workforce during quarter two of 2020 while only accounting for 3.7% of the total worker population.

Young workers in trucking were also hit disproportionately during COVID-related layoffs.  With the strong emphasis carriers place on experience and age, new and inexperienced drivers face extra challenges entering the industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only added to labour problems that the industry was feeling well before 2020.  Increased demands on the Canadian supply chain coupled with workers leaving the industry for other jobs and for retirement has placed pressures on Canada’s trucking industry that have experts worried Canada may be heading for supply shortages.