Location: National / TRAN C
Issue/Source: Labour Shortages and Challenges in the Transportation Industry
Date: March 6, 2023
Suggested Responses
- A future diverse and skilled transportation workforce is critical to Canada’s economy and an efficient supply chain.
- Structural pressures contributing to labour and skill shortages include an aging workforce, misperceptions about careers in the industry, and the high costs of education and training.
- Transport Canada is working with other federal departments, provinces and territories, and industry, on solutions to get workers into the transportation sector.
- For example, in the marine sector, Transport Canada is working on the completion of reciprocal arrangements with other countries to recognize the credentials of foreign seafarers and increase access to qualified seafarers from around the world.
If Pressed (Actions by Transport Canada)
- Transport Canada has renewed the Marine Training Program to train Indigenous Peoples for the marine sector and are negotiating reciprocal agreements with several countries for the recognition of marine certifications to fill vacant seafarer positions in Canada.
- Transport Canada continues to leverage technology to modernize certification and licensing processes in both marine and aviation.
Background Information
- The Conference Board of Canada estimates the direct cost of elevated labour shortages in the Transportation and Warehousing sector at just over $1.3 billion in 2022, while the estimated total economic impacts with indirect effects on other industries is $4.3 billion in 2022.
- Recent industry estimates show projected labour shortages across the transportation sector; in trucking (25,000 to 55,600 by 2023-2035), aviation (42,000 to 55,000 by 2025-2035), marine (1,000 to 19,000 by 2031-2035), and rail (4,000 by 2035). These shortages are causing disruptions to supply chains, including grounded airplanes, docked marine shipping vessels, and a lack of available trucking capacity. These disruptions will negatively impact transportation-reliant sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, and natural resources.
- The Government of Canada recently announced investing up to $46.3 million to Trucking Human Resources Canada under the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program. The Driving Economic Recovery project will provide training subsidies and wage subsidies to support the recruitment, training and onboarding of up to 1,400 new truck drivers and 1,200 workers for other in-demand occupations within the trucking sector.
- Through the Oceans Protection Plan, Transport Canada has partnered with schools across Canada to deliver training to underrepresented groups in the marine sector, such as women, Indigenous Peoples, Northerners, and Inuit. The Marine Training Program (MTP) was launched in 2017 and renewed in Budget 2022 ($35M over 5 years) to develop training programs that reflect traditional knowledge, use culturally appropriate learning material, and meet the learning needs of remote coastal communities. It also provides infrastructure, equipment and new technology to improve and access to training.
- Transport Canada has negotiated seven reciprocal agreements for the recognition of seafarer credentials with Norway, France, Australia, Ukraine, Georgia, Philippines and the United Kingdom. It is currently negotiating agreements with eight additional countries to increase the availability of qualified foreign labour pools of seafarers in critical safety positions.
- Concerning the agreement with Ukraine, 339 applications have been received from Ukrainians. 148 endorsements have been issued to date, with the remainder in various stages of approval. The endorsement allows seafarers to work in Canada.