Canada’s shortage of drivers worsens as federal vaccination mandates continue

(Natural News) Canada’s vaccine mandate is now in effect, affecting Canadians and cross-border truckers coming into the country. Canadian truckers who are not fully vaccinated now have to show proof of negative PCR tests collected within 72 hours of arriving at the border and will need to quarantine after arrival, while unvaccinated American drivers will not be allowed to cross.

However, the new mandates come with new problems. Canadian trucking companies are now reporting driver shortages due to the vaccination mandates for all truckers crossing the borders.

Robert Penner, president of the Winnipeg-based Bison Transport and one of the largest trucking firms in Canada, said that his company alone already lost nearly 10 percent of its drivers due to the mandate that took effect on January 15.

Penner noted that the COVID vaccination mandates for truckers have created “challenges for our industry,” noting that it will drive up costs on all goods originating from or going to the United States.

Mark Millan, the president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada also warned the federal government of possible shortages of goods moving across the border even before the mandates took place. “We already have a fractured supply chain,” Millian said, adding that if the supply chain is damaged, they are going to see a shortage of the supplies necessary for Canadians’ health and safety.

The Trudeau government also recently reinstated a requirement for all truckers crossing the border to be “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19 by January 15, which came as a surprise to many as multiple media reports noted the day prior that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said unvaccinated Canadian truck drivers would be allowed to enter Canada from the U.S.

The government claimed that the message was erroneous and that it would be going ahead with its vaccination mandate upon truckers’ arrivals using the ArriveCan app. Meanwhile, Canadian truckers coming from the U.S. who are not jabbed will still be allowed to enter the country but will be forced to do a COVID test and then quarantine for up to two weeks. American truckers, if unvaccinated, will be denied entry.

Initially announced on November 19, 2021, trade associations from Canada and the U.S. began warning that the vaccine mandate could impact an already stressed supply chain, which has already seen massive disruptions since the pandemic began. (Related: Trucking companies sound alarm, say Canada’s draconian vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers will devastate economy.)

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) also estimated that the mandate will impact up to 30,000 or 30 percent of Canadian truck drivers and about 16,000 American truck drivers that enter Canada on a regular basis.