Canada body urges govt action after US halts worker visas for truck drivers: ‘Must view this as a wakeup call’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday announced that the US will pause issuing work visas to some foreign truck drivers.

“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on US roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” he wrote on X halting the visas.

Alarmed by the announcement, the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) issued a statement regarding the situation in the country with regards to truck driving.

What did CTA say?

In a statement issued on Friday, the CTA said that Canada should take the announcement as a wake-up call to review its own system.

“The Visa restrictions announced by Secretary Rubio do not pertain to the Visas utilised by drivers in Canada. However, CTA believes Canada must view these events as a wakeup call to clean up the issues within our system or risk potentially facing similar restrictions in the future,” it said in the statement.

“CTA is calling for the Government of Canada, as well as the provinces and territories to ensure Canada’s own issues with truck safety and licensing integrity are not a concern for the US Administration and as authorities increase oversight south of the border,” it added.

The CTA said it “has been adamant with governments the problems in the industry related to immigration are very evident and must be addressed.”

Calling out the government for its apparent ‘inaction, the CTA pushed for revamping trucking immigration programmes.

“It is not acceptable that those who follow the rules and operate legally be caught in the net the US is casting,” it said.

Flagging safety issues, it said that the trucking industry in Canada has seen immigrants conduting unethical business practices.

“Unfortunately, the Canadian trucking industry has seen an influx of trucking fleets and ownership groups who have little regard for safety and other ethical financial & labour business practices.”

It urged the government to take note of the US decision to pause worker visas for truck drivers.

“The announcement by Secretary Rubio should be the clearest signal yet the non-compliant segment of the Canadian trucking industry which erode the integrity the driver licensing, training, safety compliance and immigration systems, must be dealt with immediately,” it noted.

Why did the US ban worker visas?

Rubio’s announcement comes shortly after the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lodged an arrest detainer for Harjinder Singh.

DHS, citing the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Singh, an illegal alien, on August 12 attempted to make an illegal U-turn through an “official use only” access point, which blocked all lanes of the highway with his truck and resulted in a wreck, causing 3 deaths.