Manitoba Trucking Association said preliminary talks are underway with the province to start a new truck driver training program after a 10-year-long program was not renewed by Manitoba Public Insurance. The program was administered by the MTA.
Meanwhile, the MTA has been attempting to have the province’s education department host an industry training program for driver, similar to other trades via the province’s apprenticeship system. While the MPI funded training program has now been concluded, there may be other funding options available through program such as employment insurance or provincial training programs.
There’s a significant labour shortage in Canada’s trucking industry according to the Conference Board of Canada, the Asia-Pacific Gateway Skills Table and Canadian Trucking Alliance, with the latter saying there will be 48,000 fewer truck drivers by 2024.
Terry Shaw of the MTS said he hopes the Manitoba government is taking those numbers into consideration.
“We’ve provided them a whole host of labour market information, external to us,” Shaw said. “Truck drivers are very much in demand so we would imagine that the government of Manitoba would be factoring that into their conversations, their planning and their decisions.”
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