CTOA alleges targeted enforcement during driver misclassification blitzes
The Canadian Truck Operators Association (CTOA) says its members feel targeted by recent and upcoming enforcement initiatives regarding the classification of drivers as independent contractors.
The federal government promised in its recently passed budget to crack down on the misclassification of drivers, which it says deprives drivers operating as independent contractors of labor protections while allowing employers to sidestep certain payroll deductions. Most recently, the feds announced coming enforcement initiatives in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).
“While CTOA fully supports compliance, safety enforcement, and protections for workers, the scale, timing, and geographic concentration of this blitz raise urgent questions that must be answered,” the association said in a release issued last night.
It says over the past week alone, more than 60% of its Toronto-area members have received Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) inspection notices, with many given just 48 to 72 hours to comply.
“If this blitz is ‘national,’ why is Ontario, and specifically GTA-based, ethnically diverse companies, bearing the overwhelming brunt?” CTOA asks in its release.
It also questions the timing, during peak shipping season and when carriers are coping with tariffs affecting freight volumes. And it wonders “was a list [of carriers using incorporated drivers] quietly provided to the government?”
The organization accuses the government of “targeted inspections” creating the appearance of “market manipulation, an attempt to squeeze small operators and a push toward industry consolidation under a few dominant players.”
The enforcement crackdown, alleges CTOA, risks “creating panic among drivers and small carriers, destabilizing freight movement, slowing deliveries, pushing small businesses out of the market, destroying thousands of jobs, and impacting the entire GTA economy.”
Affected businesses are mostly “immigrant-owned, family-run” and operate legally following compliance guidelines, the association says.
As for its stance on driver classification, CTOA says it supports: “strong enforcement against real violators, clear rules, proper classification, and a fair labor system.”
“But misclassification cannot be used as a weapon to target an entire region or community. Compliance must be based on facts, not lobby-driven narratives. Education and collaboration produce better results than punitive blitzes,” the release said.
The CTOA says it is calling on the Ministry of Labour to clarify if the national inspection program is regional in scope, why it appears to target ethnically diverse companies, whether it is working from a list to identify targets, why the blitz was initiated during the busiest freight season of the year, and whether a risk assessment has been done on the supply chain impacts.
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Finally some enforcement of our labor and tax laws!!!!!!
Hello pot, meet kettle. Sheesh. The CTOA complaining about being the victims of a “lobbying campaign” is a bit much considering they advocate quite actively on their own behalf. And if this group of carriers is in favour of compliance, as stated in their press release, why all the chirping about compliance related enforcement? And if I was a cynic I’d say using the term “immigrant-owned businesses” is playing the “r” card, but surely that isn’t the case.
The ESDC is in Ontario and Quebec doing their blitz because those are the 2 provinces with the most misclassification. Why does everyone claim racism when something gets done? The facts are that most drivers that are Incorporated want to be that way because they fudge numbers on their taxes for themselves and their company. This is done to stop giving the government money. The CRA has been letting it slide until now. Everything that these drivers and companies have been doing for the last 25 years or more has been illegal. It is now time to pay the piper. I fully support what all branches of government are doing, and they are attacking the 2 places where it is most prevalent, Ontario and Quebec. I guarantee that they were tipped off to the companies and drivers they are targeting, and so they should be using that list. Why should the rest of the law-abiding drivers and companies be struggling because the ones that are not following the rules are doing it illegally for rates that the rest of us could never survive on.
Why does the media keep calling this “driver misclassification”? This practice is deliberate, removes workers’ protections, and benefits both the driver and the company financially. It bypasses regular payroll taxes owed to the government and weakens our employment laws and tax system. This is clear CRIMINAL FRAUD, creating an unfair business environment for honest companies. I would go so far as to say that this criminal practice, if left unchecked, has fostered a fertile ground for illegal labor, human smuggling, forced slavery, and other criminal activities. To the CTOA, honest folks have nothing to fear and can quickly demonstrate compliance. Why are you making so much noise?
What has gone so wrong in Canada that the rule of law only applies to those who choose to follow it?
In full agreement with the rationale of the the blitz. Catch the guilty ones in their own backyard. While working for the last 20 years with many new Canadian drivers and understanding their plight,it’s evident that the immigrants are constantly misled and forced to suffer from their own community crooks. Yes, they are frauds and launder money, use incredible fake assets and established themselves as legit truck companies. Let’s expand this to Quebec, the other terribly worse jurisdiction where they operate the illegitimate operations.
And here we go. The race card with a capital ‘R’ has been pulled. I agree with the other letter writers,that if they are operating within the constraints of the law and operating legitimate businesses, then they have nothing to fear. In fact enforcement of these federal laws would likely benefit these legitimate operations as they would the rest of the industry.
I have a great idea! Run your business legally, pay your taxes, and keep your equipment in good condition; then maybe you won’t have to worry! In other words, obey the laws of Canada!
Why does it appear to target ethnically diverse companies? Because they are the ones most likely not to know the laws, or don’t think the law applies to them!
I moved from Australia for family . I couldn’t get Az driver job in Ontario because companies said i don’t have Canadian experience and afterwords i bought Truck i faced same problems than i got my on Authorities .i couldn’t get insured . after wait for 8-9 months i got Insurance and i paid $28000 premium for 160km GTA radius. But now company drivers want to be Owner Operator ….if everyone will buy truck and i think so trucking will be become UBER , because of more supplies of O/O.
Secondly why AZ drive will do the job on $24-26 an hour while City bus Driver get paid $30-40 and get overtime after 40 hour . i was looking on indeed … Companies posted overtime will be paid after 60 hours . i can’t understand logic AZ driver will work on less rates while Security guard makes $25-28 an hour . AZ or class 1 is Professional job .it’s not drive like car .so freight price will go up or people have to work because they don’t have choices . i have many questions but i don’t know who can right person to talk and get right answer with logic .
Following comments from CTOA only enforce confirmation that companies are not operating in compliance of federal and provincial labour laws. “The enforcement crackdown, alleges CTOA, risks “creating panic among drivers and small carriers, destabilizing freight movement, slowing deliveries, pushing small businesses out of the market, destroying thousands of jobs, and impacting the entire GTA economy.”
With todays technology companies should be prepared for zero notice for an audit. Companies that are compliant would look forward to 48 hrs. notification, as clean audits should be publicized and used as a sales tool for compliant operations.
I agree that it needs to be nationwide and not centralized to the GTA but, should be enforced in all levels of various contracting trades.
I am the majority owner of CW Henderson. We were audited in 2007-2008 for payroll. We were perfectly clean on payroll but CRA asked that we issue T4A’s for all owner operators or anything outside normal payroll requirements. We have done so every year since. The T4A is the simplest of all government filings. Effectively there is one number they are looking for. How much did you pay the individuals or corporations. To say there is an administrative burden is obsurd.
If the government doesn’t follow through on this commitment, legitimate companies will either go out of business because of depressed rates in the industry or they will follow suit and start using the same model.
I understand the inspection notices have been issued today and legitimate trucking businesses are welcoming it with open arms.