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Are there labour shortages in Canada’s transport sector?

Author: NB-IRDT Staff

Posted on Nov 2, 2021

Category: DataNB

If you have watched the news lately, you may have seen long lines of vehicles blocking roads around the UK as drivers waited for a chance to fuel up. The emerging gas shortage overseas is just one symptom resulting from a truck driver shortage in Great Britain, with food and medicine shortages following to a lesser extent.

A labour shortage in the Transportation industry can clearly have serious, far-reaching consequences. So, how does employment in Canada’s Transport Sector measure up?

In a report commissioned by Transport Canada, researchers from NB-IRDT and the Atlantic Institute for Policy Research at UNB consider this very question, looking at regional differences in labour supply challenges and outcomes.

While their research does not reveal obvious national labour shortages at the moment, there are signs of a tightening labour supply and risks of future shortages. Read the full report to for a breakdown of employment across transportation industries and to see how labour supply pressures are impacting Atlantic Canada.