Skills and training remain one of THRC’s 5 key strategic goals, supporting our work in ensuring that Canada’s road transportation network has the skilled workforce needed for today and into the future.
This work supports industry in developing highly skilled, productive, and safe drivers.
The work started in 2015 with the development and release of our National Occupational Standard (NOS) for commercial vehicle operators.
Occupational standards serve many practical purposes. Technically, they define the knowledge and skills required and specify what a job incumbent needs to know and do to successfully carry out the functions of a specific job in a typical work environment. They are voluntary and are useful for a host of audiences — including training providers, HR professionals, employers, and governments — as well as others interested in developing training programs, curriculum, skills evaluations, knowledge tests, and more.
Last year, we led a national collaborative effort to update and build on our NOS work – work that has served as the foundation for Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) driver training programs across the country. This work’s primary focus was to improve and support occupational level training in the industry.
Occupational level training takes place after licensing and is usually provided by the employer to enhance a new driver’s skills to meet their company’s needs, road, and safety standards.
The current lack of skill recognition for commercial vehicle operators — truck drivers — means that the industry does not have the same access to training funds that other industries with skilled occupations have. While the lack of funding is one factor, the lack of consistency and consensus with driver training is an even bigger one.
As a means of addressing this, THRC worked with a 31-person national Working Group between January 2023 and April 2024 to look at ways of improving occupational level driver training in Canada. This group — which included provincial and national trucking associations, insurance companies, safety organizations, training schools, employers, and other transportation partners — led the charge in updating the NOS, and then identified the resources and tools to support employers and others involved in the development and delivery of occupational level driver training.
The subsequent development and design of 16 key resources support the industry in ensuring our drivers have the competencies they need to be successful, skilled, and safe.
Additionally, these resources support other key industry goals of:
- Bridging the gap between entry-level training and employment readiness
- Providing the foundation for a nationally consistent approach to occupational level training that directly supports increased productivity and labour mobility
- Increasing skill recognition and attractiveness of the occupation
- Producing better trained and safer drivers
And, by financially supporting this work, the Government of Canada is doing its part to help the industry move forward. Continued support will depend on how we leverage and use these government investments.
And the industry at large can leverage these resources to raise the bar in driver recruitment and retention. With our most recent labour market information (LMI) forecasting a need that could exceed 40,000 drivers between now and 2030 – this remains a crucial business imperative. Which means that increasing the attractiveness of the occupation should be too.
This suite of free, downloadable tools is available in French and English, and can be accessed through this link.
And I encourage you to read this article by our Chief Program Officer, Craig Faucette as he provides more details on how these resources and tools can be used to support the industry in raising the bar in driver training.
