The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) was founded in 1926 and this year marks our 100th anniversary as an organization.
While we celebrate this milestone and reflect on a century of representing our members, proudly upholding our values of safety, responsibility and ethical competition and ensuring governments always heed those standards, this year will be critical for the legacy of OTA in how we maintain momentum in pushing for an end to lawlessness in our industry.
The scourge of Driver Inc. is an existential threat to our industry, specifically the responsible, law-abiding trucking companies and owner-operators throughout Ontario.
The battle against this rampant scheme took a positive turn in 2025 as the federal government’s budget announcements promised the creation of a dedicated enforcement team to address Personal Services Business (PSBs) in trucking, a crackdown on T4A issuance in trucking, and focused enforcement with meaningful consequences on truck driver misclassification. This is welcome news to law-abiding companies.
Working with government
The responsibility for the enforcement of the laws and regulations that govern trucking and actions that must be taken to end the lawlessness in our sector resides with both the provincial and federal governments. Ontario is the truck transportation and goods movement hub of our nation.
The OTA is committed to working with both governments to ensure they are committed to providing the industry with holistic oversight and enforcement attention it desperately needs to address all the challenges we face in 2026.
Undoubtedly, there have been some good initial steps taken at the federal level to end aspects of lawlessness in trucking. In Ontario, OTA has had a long, collaborative, and productive relationship with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), and we share many common values which encompass truck safety and supporting the economic value trucking provides to our province. Under the leadership of the Ford Government, that relationship has mostly grown and prospered.
But as this relationship has strengthened, segments of our sector have increasingly become less trustworthy when it comes to compliance and playing by the rules.
The measures we have championed over many years and the province has put into action, have, unfortunately, not been close to enough. OTA has vocally conveyed this message to the Minister of Transportation.
Last month, many in the trucking industry asked OTA about the Minister of Transportation openly stating he stands “shoulder-to-shoulder” with interests whose positions do not align with ours; or, frankly, tens of thousands of Canadians and Ontarians who openly express grave concern with the degrading state of trucking safety in Ontario and who continue to demand increased enforcement and oversight on our sector.
OTA call to action
To ensure clarity and measurable actions, OTA is calling on the Government of Ontario to reaffirm their commitment to restoring law and order to the trucking industry by acting on the following:
- Ending the subsidization of unsafe trucking fleets by closing long-standing regulatory loopholes through government controlled and managed insurance programs;
- Ensuring truck inspection stations (TIS) in key locations are open 24/7 with a priority on various critical locations;
- The government of Ontario takes decisive actions to end the illegal truck yards threatening safety and ruining the livability of citizens in communities like Caledon;
- The return of Operation Deterrence enforcement activities and inspection volumes with sustained WSIB, ESDC, CRA, OPP, Immigration and other authorities at TIS locations throughout Ontario;
- The announcement that truck driver licenses will move to a vocational license framework and that truck driving schools will have strict regulatory oversight and regular audits;
- A pause on the Ontario Immigration Nominee Program (OINP) for truck drivers and the creation of a known employer program;
- The escalation of WSIB misclassification audits on high-risk carriers based on ESDC & CRA data sharing agreements.
Arguably, most importantly, MTO must eliminate the Satisfactory-Unaudited safety rating category under the CVOR system. Most trucking companies which have been assigned this safety rating category are in operation without ever having a site visit. MTO needs a touch point and paper trail with everyone in heavy trucking that shares the road with the travelling public.
Put more simply, Ontario’s trucking industry needs at the very least the kind of scrutiny the restaurant sector undergoes, as food service businesses are regularly inspected, risk-assessed, and have follow-up visits to ensure compliance with public health and safety rules.
According to AI, there are about 30,000-35,000 routine food service inspections per year. Please don’t tell me we can’t do some level of screening for 10,000 or so trucking businesses.
OTA will become very aggressive on these issues over the next 12 months. It’s time for action and a comprehensive approach by government to restore law and order and the standards our industry has spent a century building.
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