Ontario truckers say wage theft plaguing industry

Bhubander Singh says he got into trucking after a friend told him it was a good way to make money.

A year and a half into his new career, now working for his third company, he says he regrets his decision. The 26-year-old immigrant says his employers have constantly withheld pay, claiming he hasn't completed trips, and he's now owed over $9,000 in wages.

"I did hard work. I was driving like 70 hours a week," he said. "I'm under so much pressure with the rent and with my bills and the car payments, and the company's not paying."

Singh isn't alone. 

He's one of dozens of truck drivers who showed up at a rally in Brampton Saturday, calling on the federal government to look into violations to the Canada Labour Code and enforce penalties against trucking companies. They say some companies in their industry are illegally deducting wages, failing to pay overtime and misclassifying employees as independent contractors so they don't have to pay benefits.

The rally was part of a national movement Saturday, organized by advocacy group Justice for Workers, where truck drivers across Canada sent letters to over 30 Members of Parliament, asking for stronger enforcement of Canada's Labour Code.

Navi Aujla, president of the Labour Community Services of Appeal (LCSA), a non-profit that has taken up the cases of more than 250 truckers over the last two years, told the crowd at Saturday's rally that the LCSA is currently working with 130 truckers who are collectively owed over $1 million by their employers.

"Employers are getting away with ignoring government orders to pay wages all of the time," she said.

LCSA paralegal Kevin Kordahi says truckers in this position have to fight long and hard to get those wages.

Long-haul truck drivers are federally regulated employees, Kordahi says, which means they have six months to file complaints about Labour Code violations. 

"What often happens is a lot of these truck driving companies, they keep delaying payment of the wages," he said. "When the truck drivers finally have enough and want to file a complaint, oftentimes the deadline has already passed." 

Truckers account for less than 20 per cent of federally-regulated workers, but government figures show the industry was responsible for 85 per cent of all wage-related Canada Labour Code violations between 2017-18 and 2021-22.

Kordahi says even when complaints are filed successfully and federal officers order companies to pay wages, a lack of enforcement makes recovering that money a challenge for employees.

He says the federal government needs to do a better job protecting truckers.