The Canadian trucking industry has praised an announcement by the federal government that it will crack down on the misclassification of truck drivers, by ending a moratorium on T4A penalties and collaborating between agencies to ensure drivers claiming to be independent contractors pay their taxes.

It’s something the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) has been calling for over years. Funding to allow increased enforcement is promised in the upcoming federal budget.

“Today is a substantial day for our industry. We thank Minister [Francois-Philippe] Champagne for his leadership, and we look forward to working with government as it follows through on its commitments,” said CTA president and CEO Stephen Laskowski. “This move finally gives owners and drivers who obey the law and follow the tax code hope that their businesses and jobs will survive against the surge carriers who operate within the underground economy and who have been undermining legitimate operators for years.” 

Those opposed to the return of T4A forms have claimed it will be onerous to manage, but CTA disagrees.

“A lot has changed since the moratorium was introduced in 2011, and the idea that issuing T4As creates a mountain of red tape for small businesses is simply not true in 2025,” said Laskowski. “The trucking industry is one of the largest in Canada, and it’s made up primarily of small businesses. Both large and small carriers alike have strongly supported this measure. Reintroducing T4As will help many small fleets stay in business, not harm them.”

The Private Motor Truck Council of Canada (PMTC) also welcomed the announcement, but says more must be done.

“This is a great step in the right direction to beginning a clamp down on the continued rising issue of misclassified workers across our industry,” PMTC president Mike Millian told trucknews.com. “The announcement on working towards a regulatory change to allow sharing between Employment Services and Development Canada and Canada Revenue Agency is also a positive step. These moves are long overdue, and only a step towards improving oversight and compliance in the transportation industry, but we congratulate the government for making a move in the right direction.”

Angela Splinter, CEO of Trucking HR Canada had this to say: “We welcome this announcement as a step toward a stable, sustainable sector and look forward to working with the government to ensure fair employment and a strong workforce.”

Trucknews.com is in Halifax this week, attending the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association’s (APTA) annual conference. The news was welcomed there as well.

“We’re very pleased to see the government finally take action on this,” APTA executive director Chris McKee told trucknews.com. “The lifting of the moratorium on T4As is a great first step in creating a paper trail of these illegal transactions that are occurring. Hopefully within even one tax year, we could see a benefit to our industry, because these drivers will now understand that their transactions are being tracked by CRA, and there will be consequences.”

Trevor Bent, CEO of Eassons Transport, has also been a vocal critic of Driver Inc.

“It is a very good step in the right direction to address this issue, to formally tighten up a process that identifies bad actors,” he said. “Investing $77 million shows that the government is serious. We invest tens of thousands of dollars a year to comply and be leaders in the industry, and now we see government investing funds and showing leadership.”

And Todd Seward, vice-president and general manager of Classic Freight Transport, added “We’ve been encouraging various levels of government to look into the practice of misclassifying drivers for several years, and it’s incredibly encouraging to finally see some action and some resources put to moving this envelope forward and getting something done.”

Further evidence of a coming crackdown

Meanwhile, on the afternoon of Oct. 30, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu, spoke to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and gave more evidence the feds are finally getting serious about driver misclassification.

“There is a misclassification issue that has been a growing problem in the trucking industry. I want to be clear; misclassification is exploitation – it strips workers of their rights and creates an uneven playing field for the many honest companies that follow the rules,” she told the committee. 

She said there are upcoming enforcement blitzes in the greater Toronto and Hamilton areas focused on the matter. And Employment and Social Development Canada also indicated more punitive fines are coming to violators.