The $1B scam some say is driving Canada's trucking industry into crisis

The national voice of the trucking industry in Canada is renewing calls for the federal government to pump the brakes on what it says is a $1-billion scam it calls "Driver Inc."

"We believe that in some parts of Canada at least a third of the companies and the drivers are participating in this, and it's hurting us twofold as a society," said Stephen Laskowski, president and CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA).

"Those are taxes that aren't going into our [economy], and on the flip side of it, it's about a 30 per cent advantage in the marketplace."

Laskowski described it as a tax evasion scheme where trucking companies purposely misclassify drivers as incorporated workers instead of employees to save money on payroll taxes. But he said those drivers also lose their labour rights including fair pay, overtime and vacation pay, as well as health and safety protections.

In 2021, the government made it illegal for federally regulated employers to misclassify employees, and added penalties for non-compliance.

In a statement to CBC, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) said that prohibition was strengthened in 2024 by placing the burden on employers to prove a worker is not an employee.

However, Laskowski said more needs to be done, identifying Driver Inc. as the biggest current threat to the industry — including the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.

"We have worked and pleaded with governments to address it, and the reality is they are starting to, but nowhere near to the level that needs to be done. Nowhere near," he said.

Driver Karanveer Singh agrees there's a lack of enforcement against companies that break the law.

Singh came to Canada from India's northern Punjab state as an international student when he was 18 years old.

"I'm trying to chase the Canadian dream," he said.

But Singh's journey took a detour shortly after he got his commercial trucking licence. He said the first two companies he worked for misclassified him as an incorporated driver, and also never paid him.

Singh was able to prove to the Canadian Labour Board that he had been misclassified and the companies were ordered to pay what he was owed.

While he was able to collect from one of the companies, Singh said it's unlikely he'll ever see the nearly $40,000 owed by the second company.