In which province of Canada do truckers earn the most money?
One of the provinces needs truck drivers, and they are willing to pay very well!
Alberta has the second-highest number of jobs for truckers in Canada. Thus, the province provides an excellent job opportunity for foreigners thinking about immigration or those who want to work temporarily in Maple Leaf country.
In early June, the federal job search and career planning website Job Bank posted 826 jobs in Alberta (more only in Ontario: 928) for truck drivers. Notably, many employers are seeking to fill multiple positions.
Most offers come from employers in Edmonton and Calgary. The provincial capital had 448 job vacancies, and Calgary had 282. Thus, the province's two largest cities together accounted for 730, or 88.3% of all trucking jobs in Alberta as of early June.
According to Job Bank data, Alberta's hourly truck driver pay ranges from a low of CAD 18.12 to a high of CAD 37.45 (the second highest in the country among the provinces). The average wage for a truck driver in Alberta is CAD 28 per hour (the third highest in Canada).
Based on a standard 40-hour work week, a driver in Alberta making CAD 37.45 per hour can earn CAD 77,896 a year. But keep in mind that truckers also receive bonuses for miles driven, which allows them to earn much more than what you get based on pay per hour alone.
As trucking companies desperately need truckers to fill rapidly vacating jobs, the federal and provincial governments are helping them with changes in immigration policy. For example, the issuance of work permits and permanent residency permits is being simplified for foreign skilled workers seeking such work in Canada.
Alberta is a participant in the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot program. The EMPP is expected to help employers hire qualified refugees, including in the trucking industry, starting this summer.
Foreign nationals who are not refugees can also immigrate to Alberta to work as truck drivers through the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Last November, trucking was one of 16 occupations added to the list of occupations that qualify for the skilled worker program after the Canadian National Occupation Classification was updated.
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