By admin (May 21, 2024)

Truck and Bus Drivers Eligible for Express Entry

IRCC designated truck and bus drivers eligible for Express Entry, the expansion of the list of eligible candidates is done to meet labour shortage.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) transitioned from its National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2016 system to an updated 2021 version on 16 November 2022 due to which truck and bus drivers are eligible for Express Entry. IRCC made 16 occupations newly eligible for Express Entry as part of this transition to NOC 2021. Two occupations that are pressured by significant labour shortages across Canada are transport truck drivers and bus drivers.

Shortage of School Bus Drivers

Canada has long dealt with a lack of school bus drivers in several parts of the country within the busing industry. Many communities across the country are struggling to find transportation for students due to such factors as low wages and “a rash of retirements during the pandemic”, for instance.

For example, the cancellation of much-anticipated events for students across Canada is caused by the employment shortages in this industry, such as an 8000-student cross-country meet organized last October by one Catholic School Board in London, Ontario. Global News reported that a school bus driver shortage in Montreal forced the cancellation of bus routes in October 2022; in the first week of 2023, a similar outcome as what happened to one Yellowknife’s community.

For many children across the country, transportation via school buses is vital as one Transport Canada news release estimated back in July 2022 that 2.2 million children in this country “travel to and from school every day”. Therefore, there is a significant impact on the lives of many young Canadians due to the labour shortages in this industry, who rely on these methods to get to and from school daily. 

The Shortage of Truck Drivers

For the progression of the national supply chain across Canada, the truck driving industry is essential. In 2021, there were 18,000 vacancies in this sector and the number has only risen to 20,110 in 2022. The national economy was very much impacted due to labour shortages and disruptions.

It is estimated that over 34,000 truck drivers will leave the industry annually, due to issues ranging from safety concerns and high upfront training costs. This means if nationwide labour shortages continue to rise, the trucking industry where the job vacancy rate was 9.2% in the year 2021, will continue to hinder the Canadian economy.

Changes in Express Entry aimed at reducing shortages in the transportation industry

IRCC has added transport truck drivers and bus drivers to the list of occupations eligible to migrate to Canada via Express Entry to reduce labour shortages. The Canadian Government remains hopeful that this expansion to the eligibility of Express Entry, along with other changes to Express Entry such as targeted draws will drive more foreign nationals, especially skilled workers who are best able to fill the country’s most pressing labour gaps toward Canadian immigration in the future. 

Note: IRCC is permitted to conduct Express Entry draws due to targeted Express Entry draws, that place less priority on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of a candidate and instead seek out prospective immigrants based on specific attributes such as educational backgrounds, work experience, or language proficiency. As Canada gets closer to implementing the new procedure, further details regarding the specifics of targeted Express Entry draws will become available.

Other Immigration Options for Foreign Bus and Truck Drivers

Foreign nationals looking to come to Canada have several immigration options beyond Express Entry. Pathways such as Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) are included in the options, which are operated in 11 of the country’s 13 total provinces and territories (excluding Nunavut and Quebec) as well as Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP).

The above programs, as well as many others across the country, allow each region in which these programs operate to selectively choose foreign workers that the local government feels would best help to address gaps of the local labour market. In the case of bus and/or truck driving accordingly, if a prospective immigrant were to apply to a program operated in a region that had a particularly large labour gap in the busing or trucking industry, they would be positioning themselves well to possible immigrate to that area and work locally as a truck or bus driver.