Labour Shortages and Challenges in the Transportation Sector
Location: National
Issue/Source: Labour Shortages and Challenges in the Transportation Sector / TRAN
Date: March 2024
Suggested Responses
- A diverse and skilled transportation workforce is critical to Canada’s economy and for an efficient supply chain.
- Labour is a key part of our transportation system – without workers, the movement of passengers and products would grind to a halt, with potentially deep and far-reaching impacts on our economy and communities.
- Transport Canada needs to ensure they are working with all partners in the transportation system to create and fill good jobs in Canada that support sustainable economic growth.
If Pressed:
- Transport Canada is actively engaging with federal partners - such as: Employment and Social Development Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada - as well as provinces and territories, and industry on solutions to attract workers into the sector.
- Transport Canada has renewed the Marine Training Program to train Indigenous Peoples for the marine sector and we are negotiating reciprocal agreements with several countries for the recognition of marine certifications to fill vacant seafarer positions in Canada.
- The Department is leveraging technology to modernize certification and licensing processes in both marine and aviation.
Background Information
- Recent industry estimates show projected labour shortages across modes in 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 Conference Board of Canada estimated the direct cost of excess vacancies in the Transportation and Warehousing sector at nearly $1.7 billion in 2022, while the total economic impacts of excess vacancies including the downstream, upstream and price impacts on transportation output were estimated at $5.4 billion in 2022.
- The Government of Canada has committed $46.3 million to Trucking HR Canada under the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program. The Driving Economic Recovery project is providing 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 ($35 million 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 access to training.
- Transport Canada has negotiated 10 reciprocal arrangements for the recognition of seafarer credentials with Norway, France, Australia, Ukraine, Georgia, Jamaica, Republic of Panama, Republic of the Philippines, United Kingdom and Ireland. Transport Canada is currently negotiating agreements with 5 additional countries to increase the availability of qualified foreign labour pools of seafarers in critical safety positions.