Ontario career colleges that offer or plan to offer mandatory entry-level training (MELT) for Class A truck drivers must now meet new submission requirements, including detailed on-road training routes and completing a checklist.

In a Feb. 6 memo to registered career colleges, the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security said MELT program submissions must now include a completed compliance checklist from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), and a comprehensive depiction of pre-planned routes used for on-road training.

Industry groups said the new requirements raise concerns about practicality, duplication, and consistency.

Narinder Singh Jaswal, president of the Ontario Commercial Truck Training Association, said the checklist and route plan requirements were already submitted during initial career college approvals and requiring schools to resubmit the same documents adds cost without a clear benefit.

He also questioned the clarity of the route-planning requirement and said extending on-road hours unnecessarily could increase congestion and fatigue rather than improve safety outcomes.

He added that the memo specifies a 35-ft. trailer length measured from kingpin to axle, yet at DriveTest centers, several schools are currently using 20-ft. trailers without issue. “This creates inconsistency and raises fairness concerns,” he said.

Congestion, weather concerns

Philip Fletcher, president of the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario, said the requirement for minute-by-minute on-road instruction is difficult to apply in urban environments where congestion, construction, collisions, and weather can cause unavoidable variability.

He said technology and designated applications could help track on-road training time accurately if regulators formally recognize those tools.

The changes build on earlier MTO bulletins clarifying lesson plan requirements under the Commercial Truck Driver Training Standard (Class A). While lesson plans were already required, the ministry said all MELT programs in the career college sector must now include detailed plans aligned with the standard, supported by a formal self-assessment checklist developed by MTO.

Career colleges currently offering MELT programs must submit updated programs by July 1. Submissions must include new evaluations of the program in its entirety by both an adult education specialist and a subject matter expert, with the expert confirming that the lesson plans and overall program meet Class A training standards.

Schools planning to offer MELT programs that have not yet received approval must also update and resubmit their programs to meet the new requirements before approval will be granted.

The ministry warned that career colleges that fail to submit the required program changes by the July 1 deadline, or whose submissions do not meet the training standard, risk having program approval revoked or being prohibited from enrolling new students.