The committee was studying the issue of truck driver misclassification and the "Driver Inc." model, hearing from Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu, Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon, and officials from the Department of Transport and the Department of Employment and Social Development (ESDC).
Melanie Vanstone, Director General at Transport Canada, stated that driver licensing and training fall under provincial jurisdiction, not federal authority, and noted that Transport Canada works through the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators to update national safety code standards. She acknowledged concerns about "chameleon carriers" moving between provinces to avoid sanctions and said the department is working with provinces to close loopholes, but she did not recommend specific new federal enforcement measures.
Sandra Hassan, Deputy Minister of Labour, outlined a series of legislative and enforcement actions taken since 2021, including making misclassification illegal regardless of intent, shifting the burden of proof to employers, and creating a dedicated inspection team with 23 inspectors and 13 support staff funded by $26.3 million over five years. She acknowledged that an initial education-focused approach proved insufficient and said the government is now moving to faster imposition of penalties, but she did not provide a specific date for when the Driver Inc. problem would be resolved.
Brenda Baxter, Assistant Deputy Minister at ESDC, noted that the department publishes the names of employers issued monetary penalties to encourage compliance through reputational harm. She described the department's outreach at weigh stations, where officers educate drivers about the benefits of employee status under the Canada Labour Code, and said the Canadian Trucking Alliance has appreciated the escalation from education to enforcement. She did not directly disagree with any other witness.
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