Addressing the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Industry, Science & Technology today, CTA president Stephen Laskowski called on government to support a trucking-focused immigration program to help solve the truck driver shortage as well as reiterating past industry issues such as increasing enforcement on the misclassification of truck drivers, modernizing cross-border processing systems and redirecting future carbon tax revenue into a green incentive program toward the purchase of green commercial vehicle technology, among other things.
Invited to discuss how Canada’s regulatory structure impacts small businesses, Laskowski highlighted areas for improved efficiency to reduce costs on industry and government; how to improve and align international trade and areas for regulatory and legislative modernization.
One key recommendation made by CTA is the establishment of a trucking-focused immigration initiative or including trucking in an existing program. The goal would be to allow prequalified companies with the highest labour and safety standards to recruit professional foreign truck drivers quicker and with less administrative burden as is permitted in other sectors.
Meanwhile, ESDC should review its funding approach for occupations like “truck driver” so small business in the trucking industry can have the same access to training dollars as other small businesses in other sectors, added Laskowski.
With Canada set to price carbon on all diesel fuel beginning on April 1, 2109, CTA once again urged the government to consider directing carbon tax revenue into a green incentive program toward the purchase of green commercial vehicle technology. Furthermore, to ensure there is no unnecessary administrative burden and competitive unbalance, CTA called for Canada Revenue Agency to work with the industry to clarify how a federal carbon registry for trucking fleets can operate effectively and efficiently.
As well, CRA should be given the appropriate resources to target the misclassification of truck drivers claiming to be small business and enforce their status as a personal service business, added Laskowski. Misclassification is costing the Canadian economy north of $1 billion on an annual basis and putting hard working and tax-compliant small trucking businesses at a significant competitive disadvantage, he said.
In his submission Laskowski also urged for the government to prioritize the introduction of electronic logging devices to replace paper logbooks as soon as possible; to consider delaying the implementation of a Canadian GHG trailer manufacturing regulation until at least a comprehensive regulatory impact analysis is conducted and it becomes clear how US regulators will proceed with a similar rule that’s currently shelved south of the border; and harmonizing border data systems to pave the way forward for US Customs and Border Protection to restore in-transit shipments.
For CTA’s full submission to the committee click here. ontruck.org/…/Canadas-Impact-Regulatory-Structure_public.pdf