AINP: Semi-Skilled Worker criteria
Industry-specific criteria – long-haul trucking industry
Definition of long-haul and short-haul truck drivers
Long-haul: Drivers depart for destinations thousands of kilometres away from home. They cross inter-provincial boundaries and travel over international routes across North America. Drivers are away from home for several days per week or weeks at a time. A long-haul driver is one who operates a tractor-trailer combination vehicle and hauls commercial goods over long distances.
Long-haul truck drivers are eligible under the AINP.
Short-Haul: Drivers typically leave home or the terminal in the morning and travel to destinations within a half day’s or one day’s drive; they make numerous stops to pick up and deliver goods over a relatively short distance.
Short-haul truck drivers are not eligible under the AINP.
As an Alberta Employer in the long-haul trucking industry, you must also:
- Have satisfactory recruitment strategies and conditions, employment policies and practices, retention and settlement in order to qualify for allocations.
- Allocations will also be based on the number of temporary foreign workers approved under a Labour Market Opinion (LMO), size of company and number of long-haul drivers and past performance (retention rates).
- A company will not receive an allocation larger than the number of foreign drivers for which the company has received an LMO.
- Allocations will be based on 10 to 15 per cent of the number of long-haul drivers employed by the company.
- A review of the retention rate of the company with previous allocations will be conducted. Companies with retention rates of less than 50 per cent may not receive a full yearly allocation. These companies will have to demonstrate improved recruitment and hiring practices.
- Provide information regarding recruitment activity and supporting documentation that demonstrates that the foreign trained driver is aware of the scope of their employment, which includes duration of long-haul trips taken, mileage, normal amount of days away from home, and anticipated annual salary.
- Show the Candidate has received in-Alberta training. If you provide the training, details of the training program must be provided, including training content, hours of training provided in a classroom and supervised road training, testing methodology, and results.
- If the training is provided by a third party, a copy of the program syllabus must be provided including hours of classroom and supervised road training, testing methodology and results.
- The in-Alberta training and supervision must certify familiarity with traffic laws, documentation requirements (record of loads, vehicle maintenance log books, mileage, etc.) and areas of specialization (hazardous goods, mountains, winter driving conditions, running in major metropolitan areas etc).
- Show that Candidates have prior driving training and related experience in a professional capacity.
- Show the Candidate is competent in listening, speaking, reading and writing English prior to nomination. You are responsible for testing and establishing a benchmark of English language capability of the Candidate upon arrival and once again prior to nomination to demonstrate progress.
- The Employer shall be responsible for paying the cost of these two assessments (the cost of additional assessments above this limit shall be the responsibility of the Candidate).
- Employers are responsible to ensure that initial and subsequent testing is performed through the same assessment service or provide an identical method of assessment.
- If the Candidate originated from an English speaking country or has completed secondary or post-secondary studies in English, you are not required to provide proof of Candidate competency in the English language.
- Should the Candidate not be competent in English, you must provide the Candidate with an in-house English as a Second Language (ESL) program or cover the cost of the ESL training for the Candidate.
- The in-house ESL program shall only be taught by certified ESL teachers.
- An Employer will schedule the Candidate’s work in order to meet the requirements of a minimum of six hours per week of ESL training.
- Participation shall be on employee time, however, the Employer shall supply and pay for teachers, materials and classrooms.
- Participation in the ESL program shall begin within sixty days of the arrival of the PN Candidate and continue for the duration of the work permit
- To be eligible for nomination the Candidate must submit proof of 85 per cent attendance rate in the ESL training and must demonstrate a progress in learning.
As a Candidate in the long-haul trucking industry, you must also:
- Be working for your Alberta Employer as a long-haul truck driver (refer to definitions above)
- Show you have an Alberta Class 1 driver’s license and are eligible to meet provincial regulations.
- Provide a copy of your foreign driver’s license which indicates C+E certification (if from Europe).
- Both parts of the license must be provided. If the driver’s license is not in English, it must be translated by a certified translator.
- Be employed in Alberta for a minimum of six months before applying to the AINP.
- Have driven in a professional capacity before coming to Canada and provide sufficient credible documentation to demonstrate your previous driving related training (hazardous goods, etc.) and work experience.
- You must provide reference letters on company letterhead, dated, and signed with the title or position of the individual from the company who is providing the reference. E-mail letters are acceptable if they are sent from the e-mail account of the company that is providing the references (not hotmail, gmail or yahoo accounts). The letter must state the occupation of the employee, either HGV/LGV driver, and/or describe the work they performed which clearly indicates the equipment that was driven (articulated, semi, reefer, tanker, etc.).
- Preference will be given to drivers who can demonstrate a minimum of three out of the last five years’ work experience as a HGV/LGV driver.