The Canadian Trucking Alliance told the federal government on September 1, 2026, that wage theft and forced labour have taken root in parts of the trucking sector, and that Ottawa’s current enforcement tools aren’t stopping it. The submission came as part of federal consultations on forced labour, and it names a specific problem: drivers being paid 22 to 24 cents a mile, roughly a third of the going rate and below minimum wage once hours are factored in.
According to CTA’s filing, reported by Truck News, the underpayment isn’t isolated. CTA describes transnational networks linking immigration consultants, truck driving schools, and carriers in Canada and overseas, set up specifically to move vulnerable workers, many on temporary foreign worker permits, into arrangements that look like employment but pay far below it. The alliance’s full submission is posted on the Canadian Trucking Alliance’s website.
This isn’t a one-off complaint. CTA has spent the better part of a year building a case against what it calls illegal trucking, and this submission adds a hard dollar figure to that record.
What This Means for Manitoba Shippers
If you book freight, this story matters even though it’s framed as a labour issue. A carrier paying a driver 22 cents a mile isn’t covering fuel, maintenance, insurance, and compliance costs at that rate on the books. Corners are being cut somewhere in that carrier’s operation, and the freight on that trailer is exposed to whatever happens when an audit or a labour investigation catches up with it.
For a Manitoba shipper choosing between quotes, an unusually low rate from an unfamiliar carrier is now a legitimate question, not just a negotiating opportunity. Ask how the carrier pays its drivers, whether it owns its trucks, and whether it can show you a safety and compliance record. A trucking company that can’t answer those questions plainly is one you want to vet further before your freight goes on their trailer.
Any logistics company relying on undocumented subcontracting to fill trucks is exposed to the same risk CTA is describing, and that exposure eventually lands on the shipper who booked the load.
What CTA Is Actually Asking Ottawa to Do
The submission lays out five concrete requests. CTA wants stronger domestic enforcement against illegal employment practices, full implementation of a Known Employer Program to give regulators better oversight of who is hiring through immigration pathways, targeted enforcement against wage theft and worker misclassification, closer oversight of the immigration pathways being used to bring in vulnerable workers, and enforcement that goes after non-compliant operators without punishing carriers that are already following the rules.
That last point is the one that matters most for a compliant carrier. CTA has been explicit that this kind of exploitation isn’t a victimless paperwork issue: it lets bad actors underbid legitimate freight carriers because their labour costs are artificially, illegally low. Every load a shipper places with a carrier running that model is a load a compliant, tax-paying logistics trucking company anywhere in the province didn’t get a fair shot at.
How Wage Theft Shows Up in a Trucking Operation
The mechanics are usually the same. A driver is classified as an independent contractor rather than an employee, even though the carrier controls their schedule, routes, and equipment the way an employer would. For a logistics trucking company managing dozens of drivers, the temptation to shave labour costs this way is constant, which is why CTA wants firmer rules rather than voluntary compliance. That misclassification, often called a Driver Inc. arrangement, lets the carrier skip employer-side payroll taxes, CPP and EI contributions, and workers’ compensation premiums, while the driver bears costs an employer would normally cover.
CTA’s earlier Stop Illegal Trucking campaign, launched in the spring, targeted this same pattern and pushed for the federal funding commitments that showed up in the last budget. The September submission builds directly on that groundwork, with a sharper focus on the temporary foreign worker angle specifically.
Why This Is Harder to Spot From the Shipper’s Side
A shipper booking a load rarely sees any of this directly. You get a quote, a pickup number, and a bill of lading. You don’t see the pay stub, the contractor agreement, or the immigration paperwork behind the driver in the seat. That’s exactly why CTA is pushing for a Known Employer Program rather than relying on shippers to police it themselves; individual companies don’t have the tools or the legal standing to audit a carrier’s payroll practices.
What a shipper can control is who they choose to work with. An asset-based carrier that owns its trucks and employs its drivers directly has no reason to run a Driver Inc. structure in the first place, because the whole point of that scheme is to avoid the obligations that come with direct employment.
The Cost of Underpriced Capacity
There’s a market-distortion angle here too. When a segment of the freight carrier market is running on labour costs that don’t reflect real wages, it drags rates down across the board, including for carriers doing everything correctly. That’s part of why CTA frames this as a competitiveness issue and not only a worker-protection one. A logistics trucking company that pays its drivers properly, maintains its equipment, and carries full insurance can’t sustainably match a rate built on 22 cents a mile. Shippers who chase the lowest number without asking why it’s low end up subsidizing exactly the practices CTA is trying to get Ottawa to shut down.
The certifications and safety record that separate a top trucking company from a bare-bones operation are exactly the things CTA wants regulators checking more closely. Being a top trucking company in 2026 increasingly means having nothing to hide when a shipper or an auditor asks how your drivers are classified and paid.
Where Keen Fits Into This
Keen Transport & Logistics is an asset-based carrier, not a broker. We run our own fleet of 100+ trucks and 220+ trailers out of Winnipeg, and the drivers behind the wheel are our employees, not contractors routed through a third party. That structure is part of why we’ve been able to hold a 97.8% on-time delivery record across more than 49,450 loads: when you own the equipment and employ the people driving it, you control the variables that actually determine whether freight shows up on time and intact.
We’re also SmartWay certified, C-TPAT certified, and bonded for cross-border moves into the US, which means our compliance record is already documented and available to the shippers and partners who ask for it. A logistics company that owns its equipment and employs its drivers directly has already solved the problem CTA is asking Ottawa to regulate. If you want to see how our full truckload service or city and rural Manitoba delivery operations are staffed and run, we’re glad to walk you through it before you book, not after something goes wrong.
Manitoba shippers who want this kind of accountability on the warehousing side too can lean on the same Winnipeg-based logistics company for cross-docking and storage, without adding another unvetted party to the chain.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I tell if a carrier is paying drivers fairly?
Ask directly whether drivers are employees or contractors, and ask for a rough sense of how compensation is structured. A carrier with nothing to hide will answer plainly. You can also check whether the carrier holds recognized safety and compliance certifications, since carriers running exploitative labour models rarely invest in those programs.
What is Driver Inc. and why does it matter to me as a shipper?
Driver Inc. is the industry term for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors to avoid payroll obligations. It matters to shippers because carriers running this model can quote artificially low rates, and those carriers carry higher compliance and safety risk than a carrier that employs its drivers directly.
How do I find a reliable trucking company near me in Manitoba?
Start with carriers that own their equipment, employ their drivers, and can produce a documented safety and on-time delivery record. Certifications like SmartWay, C-TPAT, or BBB accreditation are useful signals that a carrier has been vetted by an outside body, not just by its own marketing.
What should I check before hiring a trucking company near me for cross-border freight?
Confirm the carrier is bonded for both US and Canada, understands CARM and current customs requirements, and has drivers who are properly documented and employed. A carrier that cuts corners on labour compliance often cuts corners on customs and safety compliance too.
Is it better to search for a trucking company near me or go with a larger national carrier?
Neither size nor location alone tells you much. A Winnipeg-based, asset-based carrier can offer the same compliance standards as a national name, often with faster response times and more direct accountability, since your load isn’t changing hands between brokers along the way.
Does this affect LTL shipments too, or just full truckload?
The exploitation CTA describes cuts across freight types. Wherever a driver is behind the wheel, whether it’s a full trailer or a consolidated LTL run, the same labour and pay questions apply. Ask the same vetting questions regardless of shipment size.
What happens to my freight if my carrier gets flagged in a labour investigation?
At minimum, expect delays while the carrier deals with the investigation, and in serious cases a carrier can lose its operating authority partway through a contract. That’s the real-world risk behind an unusually cheap quote, and it’s a good reason to build a relationship with a carrier you’ve already vetted before you need capacity urgently.
How is Keen different from a broker when it comes to this issue?
We own our trucks and trailers and employ our drivers directly, so there’s no third-party layer where a Driver Inc. arrangement could hide. You’re contracting with the company that actually delivers your freight, and our safety and compliance record is ours to stand behind, not a subcontractor’s. A top trucking company should be able to answer every question in this article without hesitating, and we’d rather you ask us before you book than after.
Ship With a Carrier That Owns Its Fleet
Keen Transport & Logistics runs 100+ trucks and 220+ trailers out of Winnipeg, with a 97.8% on-time record across more than 49,450 loads. No broker markup, no handing your freight to a stranger, and no question about who employs the driver hauling it: our equipment, our drivers, our dispatch.
Call 24/7 dispatch at (204) 943-5336, email info@keentransport.ca, or request a free quote and we’ll price your lane the same day. If you’re a driver who wants to see what fair, direct employment looks like, check our current openings or reach us through the contact page.