Truckers warn vaccine mandate at U.S. border could worsen supply chain issues

Truck drivers coming into Canada will have to show proof of vaccination starting Saturday, a move critics say will compound supply chain issues.

New rules coming into effect Saturday mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for truck drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. border could compound supply chain issues in a sector already facing a labour shortage, say representatives from the country’s trucking industry.

Truck drivers entering Canada from the U.S. will need to show proof of vaccination at the border starting Jan. 15, under a policy announced last November that will remove the vaccine exemption in place for essential workers. Unvaccinated Canadians trying to cross the border back into the country would have to take a test and enter isolation, while Americans without the jab would be turned away.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) projects 10 to 15 per cent of cross-border truckers will be sidelined as a result of the new policy, with roughly 12,000 drivers from Canada affected.

Estimates from the Canadian government, however, have come in lower at roughly five per cent, according to a source quoted by Reuters over the weekend.

Stephen Laskowski, president of the CTA, says the percentage of unvaccinated drivers varies regionally in Canada, as do rates among the general population.

But Canada’s aging trucking workforce was already facing a labour shortage ahead of the mandate, he tells Global News, with about 23,000 vacancies at the end of the third quarter last year.

“We can’t afford more vacancies, not with the supply chain in the state it is,” Laskowski says. “We need more truck drivers, not less.”

Supply chain issues that marked the latter half of 2021 have persisted in the new year, with labour shortages striking the shipping industry and production hubs such as China.