Laval, July 9, 2026 — Teamsters Canada welcomes the measures announced today by Quebec’s Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Benoit Charette. Ontario Class 1 licence holders with less than 24 months of experience will now have to pass the SAAQ’s practical exams before driving heavy vehicles in Quebec, and a working group on road safety and temporary foreign workers has been created.
These measures, however, address the symptoms rather than the root of the problem. The heart of the issue remains the Driver Inc. model, a misclassification scheme in which trucking companies force their drivers to incorporate in order to avoid payroll deductions and escape their obligations as employers. It is these companies, not the drivers they exploit, that provincial and federal governments must go after.
“We welcome the government’s determination to tighten the rules, but let’s be clear. It’s not the drivers who should be punished, it’s the companies forcing them to incorporate. As long as governments fail to directly target the companies orchestrating this scheme, they will keep adapting and finding ways around the rules. And without enough inspectors with real legal powers on the ground, even the best laws will remain a dead letter,” said Jean Chartrand, road transportation advisor at Teamsters Canada.
Teamsters Canada has been leading the fight against Driver Inc. for years. The scheme deprives our communities of over one billion dollars in tax revenue every year, destroys good jobs and punishes companies that play by the rules. In Quebec alone, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 drivers are misclassified.
“We’ve been fighting this scheme for years. It robs our communities of tax revenue that should be funding our schools and hospitals, and it destroys good jobs, replacing them with precarious work. Governments need to stop beating around the bush. Go after the companies that cheat and those who profit from the system, not the workers who are its victims,” said François Laporte, president of Teamsters Canada.
To truly root out Driver Inc., Teamsters Canada is calling on governments to take the following steps:
- Target the companies that impose misclassification, with truly dissuasive fines and liability extending to clients and contractors who look the other way.
- Hire more inspectors and give them the legal powers they need to investigate, sanction and enforce the law on the ground.
- Systematize data sharing between the SAAQ, Revenu Québec, the CNESST, the CRA and ESDC to identify offending companies.
- Bar companies found guilty of misclassification from public contracts and publish a registry of violators.
- Protect drivers who come forward and support, without penalty, those who want out of this abusive model and back into employee status.
About Teamsters Canada Teamsters Canada represents nearly 130,000 workers across the country, including in the road freight sector. The union is affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
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Marc-André Gauthier
Director of Communications, Teamsters Canada
Cell: 514-206-0492 | [email protected]
