New standardized training for Ontario drivers seeking to become qualified to get behind the wheel of transport trucks and other commercial vehicles is a step in the right direction, but the province can’t let off the gas in the pursuit of trucking safety, local officials say.
“This (standard training) was one of the recommendations in our transportation task force report,” Shuniah Mayor Wendy Landry, a past president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA), said on Monday.
The task force was a joint effort between NOMA and the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities.
Landry, who regularly drives Highway 11-17 as it winds through Shuniah, added there is “more to do” to improve trucking safety.
In a news release on Monday, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the ministry is developing a “new standardized entry-level truck driver training curriculum to ensure commercial drivers receive consistent, high-quality training across Ontario and have the skills they need to operate safely on the province’s roads.”
The new curriculum is expected to be in place early in 2027, the province says.
Sarkaria, a Toronto-area MPP, added the move “will ensure truck drivers have the rigorous training they need before getting behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle.”
Northwestern Ontario NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois said the province is “glossing over” two impediments to truck-safety improvements.
It has not increased the number of training hours required for truckers beyond 103, nor has it addressed “fraudulent training and testing taking place,” said Vaugeois (Thunder Bay-Superior North).
“The province has had a mandatory training program of 103 hours since 2017,” Vaugeois said. “This program was supposed to fix everything, but clearly it hasn’t.”
“Wage theft, including misclassification, unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, illegal deductions, and more, is commonplace (in the trucking industry),” Vaugeois claimed. “This also affects highway safety.”
On the plus side, Vaugeois acknowledged enforcement efforts on Northern Ontario routes have picked up.
In its news release, the ministry noted that it previously increased the number of MTO enforcement officers in the North, and has been expanding enforcement along Highway 11-17 in particular.
Provincial police can also pull heavy trucks off the roads for alleged safety violations.
