LAVAL, Quebec, April 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The number of Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) permits approved each year for truck drivers in Canada has more than quadrupled between 2010 and 2024, according to a new report released today by Teamsters Canada.
The report, Trends in Approvals for Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Positions in the Trucking Sector (2010-2024), exposes how Canada’s trucking employers are increasingly building their business models around a steady supply of vulnerable migrant labour, rather than improving wages and conditions to attract and retain Canadian workers.
“For more than a decade, the industry told governments that there is a driver shortage in Canada,” said François Laporte, President of Teamsters Canada. ” What the data actually shows is that Canadians are not lining up for jobs that don’t pay enough to live on and have seen labour standards eroded year after year. Rather than fix any of that, employers are increasingly opting to bring in workers from overseas that they can handcuff.”
A downward spiral
Teamsters Canada warns that the rapid expansion of TFW use in trucking is both a symptom and a driver of a broader downward spiral.
Stagnant wages and difficult conditions drive Canadians away from the trucking industry. Rather than improving conditions to attract workers, employers increasingly turn to the TFW program.
The TFW program, which ties a worker to a single employer, leave migrant drivers acutely vulnerable to exploitation, wage theft, and the Driver Inc scam. The industry never meaningfully improves conditions. Fewer Canadians choose the trade. The cycle accelerates.
Some companies are approved for hundreds of permits over years, suggesting TFWs have become a permanent business model rather than a response to temporary shortages.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery described Canada’s TFW program in 2024 as a breeding ground for modern slavery. Amnesty International reached similar conclusions in a 2025 report.
Blame politicians, not immigrants
“Don’t blame immigrants. Blame the politicians for believing everything companies say, and for allowing the trucking industry to use migrant labour as a substitute for paying far more competitive wages. The solution is to raise standards for everyone, not to punish the people who came to Canada to work.”
Teamsters Canada is calling on the federal government to:
- Drastically reduce the number of closed permits in the trucking industry;
- Establish a meaningful wage floor and enforce all-time-worked pay rules for truck drivers;
- Provide clear pathways to permanent residency for TFWs already in Canada;
- Fully implement the Driver Inc crackdown measures announced in Budget 2025, and increase inspections and penalties for companies misclassifying employees;
- Recognize truck driving as a skilled trade.
The full report is available at teamsters.ca.
Teamsters Canada represents 130 000 workers.
Media requests:
Christopher Monette
Director of Public Affairs
Teamsters Canada
Cell : 514-226-6002
cmonette@teamsters.ca
