Transport trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge into the United States of America, in Windsor, Ont., Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dax Melmer
Ontario is set to implement standardized entry-level training for commercial truck drivers following a critical audit that showed the province wasn’t adequately overseeing training and licensing processes.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria stated that this new program responds to auditor general Shelley Spence’s recommendations from a special report released by her office 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 topics being considered for the new curriculum include fatigue management, northern rural and remote driving, human trafficking awareness and entirely new mandatory air brake training.”
The curriculum will take effect next year, according to Sarkaria.
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Spence discovered that some career colleges were cutting corners on both training hours and skills while also noting minimal oversight from two provincial ministries.
She mentioned that these issues left many unqualified truck drivers on Ontario’s roads.
Commercial truck drivers are involved in a disproportionate number of road fatalities, with this issue being particularly serious in northern Ontario.
Spence sent undercover investigators to two private career colleges offering this training. Both fell short of meeting the minimum requirement of 103.5 training hours needed for graduation. She also found that several students weren’t taught key skills such as making left turns at major intersections, emergency stopping or reverse parking.
Additionally, she found that the province hadn’t inspected 54 out of the 216 career colleges providing this training at all.
The province accepted Spence’s recommendations and initiated an inspection blitz across all career colleges after receiving her findings.
Communities and organizations in northern Ontario have long advocated for improved truck driver training. In response, the province has rolled out several initiatives aimed at addressing these concerns including a mandatory waiting period before drivers can take a Class A road test, adding 131 transportation enforcement officers, and raising fines for distracted driving violations among commercial drivers.
The province has stated it will collaborate with industry stakeholders, career colleges, and other experts to create this curriculum.
This report by The Canadian Press was first Sept. 21, 2026.
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