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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Changes to Temp Foreign Worker Program Devastates Atlantic Carriers

 

 

DIEPPE, NB — Truck Carriers in Atlantic Canada are devastated by how quickly  the negative effects of the changes made to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) last month has been.

“We are in disbelief,” says Jean-Marc Picard of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association (APTA). “The changes implemented to the Temporary Foreign Workers program by Minister Kenney a month ago are already having an impact on carriers in Atlantic Canada.  Applications are being denied or delayed with poor responses from the Department of Immigration on any questions about the program”.

“A long-haul truck driver in Atlantic Canada is a high wage occupation because they are paid more than the provincial average for truck drivers,” Picard says. “Carriers are now faced with a dilemma; they need to fill empty truck seats and there are no drivers to recruit!  Parking trucks is now a reality for some carriers, which mean loss of jobs, less tax money coming in and freight contracts being trucked by out of province carriers.”

“Now truck carriers are all competing for the same drivers and there aren’t that many of them available,” Picard says. “The Government needs to realize how important the trucking industry is to our economy. Without it, goods don’t move and without drivers, trucks don’t move.”

Minister Kenney has called for a phase out  “low skill stream” jobs.  Obviously, Minister Kenney has no idea of the skill involved in truck driving, or the responsibility placed upon the driver.