Ontario to standardize truck driver training after scathing auditor general report

TORONTO — Ontario is introducing standardized entry-level training for commercial truck drivers several months after a scathing audit revealed the province was not effectively monitoring training and licensing regimes. Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the new program is in response to auditor general Shelley Spence’s recommendations from a special report her office released in the spring. “The new curriculum would require more than 103 hours of training before a driver can obtain a Class A licence,” Sarkaria said Monday.

“Additional training subjects being considered for the new curriculum include fatigue management, northern rural and remote driving, human trafficking awareness and brand new mandatory air brake training.” The curriculum will come into effect next year, Sarkaria said. Spence found some career colleges cut corners on training hours and skills, and found little oversight from two provincial ministries. She said the problems left many unqualified truck drivers on Ontario’s roads.

Commercial truck drivers account for a disproportionate number of road fatalities and the problem is especially acute in northern Ontario. Spence sent undercover investigators into the field at two private career colleges offering the training. But both fell short of meeting the minimum 103.5 training hours required to graduate.

And she found several students were not taught fundamentals such as left turns at major intersections, emergency stopping or reverse parking. She also found the province did not inspect 54 of the 216 career colleges offering the training at all. The province accepted Spence’s recommendations and also launched a blitz of all career colleges after receiving her findings.

Northern Ontario communities and organizations have long called for better training of truck drivers. In response, the province has introduced several measures it hopes will help, including a mandatory waiting period before drivers can attempt a Class A road test, adding 131 transportation enforcement officers and increased fines on distracted driving penalties for commercial drivers. The province said it will work with industry, career colleges and other experts to develop the curriculum.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept.