Express Entry changes: Drivers of buses and trucks may apply for Express Entry
This action is a part of Canada's effort to address the nationwide driver shortage in the bus and trucking industries.
The National Occupation Classification (NOC) 2016 system of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) was replaced by the NOC 2021 edition on November 16, 2022.
Express Entry NOC list has added 16 additional jobs due to the switch to NOC 2021 by the IRCC.
Transport truck drivers and bus drivers are included in the list who are under pressure from severe labour shortages across Canada.
Canada has long struggled with a shortage of school bus drivers in various regions. Many municipalities around the nation are having trouble providing transportation for students because of poor wages and rash retirements during the pandemic.
An 8000-student cross-country meet which was planned by one Catholic School Board in London, Ontario, in October, was cancelled due to a lack of jobs in this industry.
The cancellation of multiple bus routes in Montreal due to a lack of school bus drivers was reported by Global News in October 2022 as well. This was similar to what occurred in a Yellowknife hamlet in the first week of 2023.
For many students around the nation, school bus transportation is essential. According to a Transport Canada news release from July 2022, 2.2 million children in this country travel to and from school on buses daily.
Since many young Canadians depend on these modes of transportation to travel to and from school daily, a labour shortage in this sector might negatively impact their lives.
The development of the Canadian national supply chain depends on the trucking industry.
According to TruckingHR Canada, the industry's high unemployment rate, which was 18,000 in Q2 2021 and 20,110 in Q2 2022, significantly impacts the national economy when disruptions and labour shortages occur.
TruckingHR Canada predicts that over 34,000 truck drivers will leave the industry each year, partly because of problems like "safety concerns" and "costly upfront training expenditures," as well as retirements and work-life balance.
Accordingly, if nationwide labour shortages continue to worsen, the trucking sector, where the job vacancy rate among Transport Truck Drivers (NOC 2021: 73300) was 9.1% in Q2 of 2022, would continue to harm the Canadian economy.
Express Entry has changed to address the labour shortage in the transportation sector.
To help with the labour shortages mentioned above, the IRCC has added truck drivers and bus drivers to the list of jobs that qualify for immigration to Canada through Express Entry.
The Canadian government is hopeful that this change and other changes to Express Entry, like targeted draws, will encourage more foreigners to move to Canada in the future, exceptionally skilled workers who can best fill the country's most essential job gaps, like those listed above.
