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Internationally-trained truckers who already live in Prince Edward Island and have at least one year of work experience have a clear pathway to permanent residence.
Through its Provincial Nominee Program’s (PNP) Critical Worker category, the province attempts to entice Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) to settle there for good.
In early June, the Job Bank federal Canada job-hunting and career planning website listed 17 trucking jobs, categorized under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 system with the code 73300, in Prince Edward Island with the long-term prospects for employment rated as very good.
That’s the highest ranking Job Bank gives to future job prospects.
“The prospect for employment in this occupation is very good as there continues to be a shortage of workers and unfilled vacancies in the province,” notes Job Bank.
“Employment opportunities may also be good for tractor-trailer (long-haul) truck drivers who own and operate their own trucks.”
In early June, roughly half of the available trucking jobs in Prince Edward Island were in the provincial capital, Charlottetown, with the rest scattered throughout the province.
In Prince Edward Island, the median hourly wage for trucking jobs is $19.55 but that varies from a low of $15.00 per hour right up to $28.50 per hour, reveals Job Bank.
Based on a standard 37.5-hour work week, that would be $55,575 at the upper end of the annual wage scale for truckers in Nova Scotia.
But truck drivers are also often paid bonuses by the kilometre, enabling them to earn significantly more.
With transportation companies desperately looking for truckers to replenish and grow their aging workforce, both the federal and provincial governments have been helping out with immigration policies to grant work permits and permanent residence to qualified foreign workers looking for these kinds of jobs in Canada.
Internationally-trained truckers who are refugees will be able to come to Prince Edward Island through the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) starting this summer.
That pathway will help employers hire skilled refugees and other displaced individuals, including for trucking jobs.
Refugees Can Apply For Visa To Work Trucking Jobs Through The EMPP
“Canada is a global leader in helping skilled refugees connect with employers struggling to find workers in critical areas, while giving newcomers the opportunity to restart their careers and their lives here in Canada,” said Immigration Minister Sean Fraser earlier this year.
“Our government will continue to develop and scale innovative immigration measures to help employers address their critical labour shortages and provide refugees with the opportunity to live in safety while rebuilding their lives.”
That was welcome news to the trucking industry whose job vacancy rate has more than tripled since 2015 and doubled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With an average age of 47 and rising, the sector has one of the oldest workforces, with a third of drivers over 55, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance.
Employers in Prince Edward Island can also hire truckers through the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP).
It’s a pathway to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers and international graduates from Canadian institutions who want to work and live in any of Canada’s four Atlantic provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Foreign nationals hoping to immigrate to Nova Scotia as truck drivers can also, since mid-November last year, apply under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program.
Truck driver was one of 16 occupations added to the FSW’s list of eligible occupations when the IRCC accepted the NOC 2021 classification system.