News Release

MIRAMICHI (GNB) – The provincial government is providing up to $200,000 to the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association to help identify ways to address labour shortages in the trucking industry.

“The trucking industry is a major employer in our province, and one all other industries rely on to deliver their goods to markets in New Brunswick and beyond,” said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Donald Arseneault, who announced the funding in Miramichi at a meeting with the association and industry members. “Ensuring smooth transportation of goods supports our government’s priorities of fostering job creation and growing the economy. The main challenges facing New Brunswick’s trucking industry are recruitment and retention. Over the next decade, we expect the significant demand for drivers to continue, so it is critical that we begin to address these issues as quickly as possible.”

The funding will help establish a Labour Force Adjustment Committee, which will have representation from industry and government. The committee will work to address the labour shortage.

“The trucking industry contributes to a seamless, multimodal transportation network and plays an important role in the New Brunswick economy,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Bill Fraser, who also attended the meeting. “That is why we are pleased to be at the table, working to find a solution so truckers and their customers can focus on their business.”

“This commitment by the province to address labour shortages is an important initiative which will be done in partnership with the trucking industry,” said Jean-Marc Picard, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association. “This funding will create awareness of the opportunities we offer and also develop some strategic initiative for the future. Our challenges to attract skilled labourers have been well documented over the years, and this partnership with the province is just what we need to move the situation in a better direction. The trucking industry moves all our goods on a daily basis for New Brunswickers; therefore, it is important that we find people to fill those jobs.”

The transportation and warehousing sector accounted for 4.8 per cent of New Brunswick’s real GDP in 2014, which is nearly $1.3 billion in economic activity. In 2015, about 5.5 per cent of working New Brunswickers, or more than 19,000 people, were employed in this sector.