New rules for truck drivers in Canada

We want to start with the news that everyone has been waiting for, is waiting for, and is worried about — when will that very lucky Green Card lottery for the United States of America open? When will people simply win their permanent resident status — their PR — and move to the bright, happy, prosperous life in the USA. And many are already saying “never,” because the red-haired, straw-headed person in power is doing all sorts of migration-related things. But in reality, everything is not that scary. And let us calm you down right away — no one has canceled the Green Card lottery. There is a shutdown, the budget has not been approved, government services are not working, so everyone is waiting to see whether it will start working and whether applications will be accepted.

Moreover, this year, let us remind you, applications will be accepted only with payment, with uploading certain passport documents and confirming your ID. So the chance of winning is very high. But as you can see, everything is going, as always, not according to plan, because North American bureaucracy has not been canceled. This is not your praised Russian “Gosuslugi” or something like that. Everything works a little differently here. So there is no need to panic, cry, or shed tears, because — we repeat once again — winning the Green Card lottery does not mean that you will actually receive the Green Card and come to the U.S.

As practice shows, there are people who won, but their case number was very high, and they were simply not called for an interview in time, so they were not issued a Green Card. There are people who came for the interview and were refused because either they had sick children — and the U.S. government does not need sick people; it needs people who will work for the benefit of the country and pay taxes into the economy. Or there were trips to North Korea, Iran, Pakistan — in short, there are nuances and problems there too. So winning the lottery is only the first step. The second step is passing the medical exam. Many people fail at the medical stage if there are spots on the lungs and so on. Because, we emphasize again, the United States does not need sick people. It needs working people who will work, pay duties, pay taxes, and support the country and develop together with it.

At the same time, this is a good free chance — we emphasize, free — well, now with minimal payment. Although we also support those commenters who want the fee to be increased to $300 per person, as a payment for the lottery “ticket,” so to speak. Accordingly, many unnecessary people would be filtered out. Why? It’s simple. We all know that many people applied just for fun. Many won. we know a person who won three times and never went to the interview, thus literally taking your chance to move to the U.S. So all of this will be filtered out, and your chances will be much higher. But again — no panic. It has not launched yet, but there is also no information that it has been completely canceled.

Now let’s move on to the second global piece of news — that truck drivers are no longer needed in Canada. And that you can no longer come on a tourist visa, accidentally stumble upon a trucking school, accidentally complete a one-month course, accidentally get Canadian commercial driver’s licenses while on a tourist visa, and accidentally find a job and change your status to a work permit. This used to work year after year, for decades.

What is the Canadian government slowly rolling out now? Or rather, we would say, the provincial government. Let’s narrow it down. After looking at our neighbors, everyone is now trying to score political points. Every party spins things their own way and feeds society all sorts of nonsense. Specifically, the province of Ontario is rolling out a new bill. Let’s be clear right away — this is only a proposal. It will be discussed, amended, reviewed. This is not a decision, not a ban, and not a law yet. It’s just been introduced for consideration. Okay.

Now we’ll explain in more detail what they’re proposing and where they’re heading. In general, they’re starting to move in the same direction as the U.S. In the United States, you couldn’t study for a truck driver’s license without having some kind of status. That’s why many people applied for asylum, got work authorization, and then went to study trucking. In Canada, for decades, the system worked differently. Either you found a job remotely, came on a work visa, studied trucking, or you came on a tourist visa and studied at a trucking school and then changed your status to a work visa.

The screws are tightening. Now Ontario is proposing stricter rules under the slogan of “safer roads.” They want to check visas and work permits for everyone applying for a commercial driver’s license. Visitors will no longer be able to obtain commercial driver’s licenses. That is, if you are on a visitor visa, you won’t be able to get a commercial license.

They also want to stop automatically recognizing foreign driver’s licenses from countries that are not partner countries. This does not apply to commercial licenses — commercial licenses were never directly exchanged anyway. Even if you come from the U.S. with a commercial license, it will only be converted to a regular passenger vehicle license in Canada, not a truck license. To get a Class A license, you must complete specialized training — about 200 hours — theory and practice, and pass all exams.

Now, if your country does not have an agreement with Canada, your foreign driving experience will not be counted. That means you will need one full year of Canadian driving experience before you can even apply for a commercial license. In simple terms, you get a regular Canadian license, drive for one year, and only then can you start trucking.

They say these are “reasonable changes” to protect families and make Ontario roads safer. But honestly, we consider this nonsense. Ontario has a massive logistics sector, and it runs almost entirely on immigrants. Huge companies with fleets of 1,000–1,500 trucks have strong lobbying power, and this would be a massive hit to business. We don’t believe this will fully pass. And even if it does, it will only affect Ontario. Other provinces like Manitoba — where Winnipeg is essentially the capital of immigrant trucking — would never accept this.

Still, don’t ignore it. Things change fast. Three years ago, borders were open, people were welcomed. Now people are being deported. The same thing can happen here. If it doesn’t pass this way, they’ll tighten things another way.

As for salaries — let’s be honest. There are jobs. A basic trucking company in Manitoba pays around 52 cents per mile. About 13,500 miles per month. That’s roughly $7,425 per month before tax. Yes, before tax — taxes exist. That’s how infrastructure, healthcare, schools, and safety work. And truck drivers can also claim large tax refunds — sometimes $12,000–$15,000 a year.

So yes, this is good money for someone who came, studied, and started working. Of course, if you expect $20,000 a month right away — that doesn’t happen. Even doctors must go through confirmation and language exams.

So here are the realities. Keep your finger on the pulse. Changes are coming. We still believe logistics will survive. But when those in power decide to tighten things — they do it everywhere. USA, Canada, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan — doesn’t matter. You need to act and get in while you still can.