Alberta’s trucking industry will feel the pain of recently announced funding cuts that have put the Canada-Alberta Job Grant (CAJG) on hold.

Carriers have relied on these funds to offset safety training costs and truck driving schools have banked on students who have utilized CAJG to cover the cost of training.

“As a result of Ottawa’s unexpected and unreasonable decision to cut $70.8 million in Labor Market Transfer Agreement funding for Alberta, our government has been forced to put an indefinite hold on the Canada-Alberta Job Grant program for the remainder of the 2024-25 fiscal year,” Matt Jones, Alberta’s minister of jobs, economy and trade said in a recent statement.

“As a result of this cut, Alberta’s employers will be short roughly $10 million in skills and training funding for 2024-25. This means approximately 1,000 businesses, and the training for up to 4,000 Albertan employees, will be impacted.”

But the federal government says it announced in the 2023 budget that top-up funding was extended for only one year, adding that provinces and territories were aware of that funding coming to an end, according to CBC News.

In a statement, a spokesperson with the government told CBC News that no cuts have been made, saying that instead it’s an expiration of top-up funding that was set to end this year.

Increased costs for responsible carriers

The funding loss will affect truck driver training schools and carriers, noted Robert Harper, president of Alberta Motor Transport Association. He added that it would also increase safety training costs for responsible carriers, and expressed concern that less responsible companies would just not carry out training vital to road safety.

CAJG cuts will lead to a decline in student enrollment and reduce access to critical training that keeps the economy moving, said Rob Dombowsky, founder and principal at Brevity HR & Safety Solutions. He warned that this could undo the progress made in addressing truck driver shortage.

“Employers who have previously invested in safety training will now have to bear the full cost of training. Unfortunately, this will likely lead many to prioritize costs over the long-term benefits of safety training,” Dombowsky said.

He noted that politics could also be involved in the issue. “The Government of Alberta had a $4 billion profit last year. They could easily have covered the $10 million shortfall,” he said.