Truck driver employment outpaces overall labour market, but sector sheds jobs

New labour market data from Trucking HR Canada shows employment among Canadian truck drivers rose in October even as the wider trucking and logistics sector lost jobs.

Statistics Canada’s labour force survey found employment among truck drivers grew 1.5 per cent in October, adding 5,200 positions compared with September. Across the national labour market, employment increased by 0.3 per cent, or about 67,000 jobs.

Despite the gains for drivers, the trucking and logistics sector as a whole shed 9,000 jobs in October, a month-over-month decline of 1.1 per cent.

The sector’s unemployment rate edged down to 3.9 per cent from four per cent in September. Among transport truck drivers, unemployment was 4.5 per cent in October, up slightly from 4.4 per cent the previous month but still well below the national jobless rate of 6.9 per cent.

“We also compare data to the same month last year to help remove some of the seasonal factors that may influence the data month to month,” said Craig Faucette, chief operating officer at THRC. “Reduced employment and increased unemployment of transport truck drivers in October 2025 compared to 2024 suggests demand may be falling and that there may be more drivers competing for fewer positions this year.”

Other findings include a 1.4 per cent year-over-year increase in national employment in October. Employment in trucking and logistics was up more than two per cent over the same period, while transport truck driver employment fell 1.9 per cent. The unemployment rate for drivers rose from 3.7 per cent in October 2024 to 4.5 per cent this year, with the number of unemployed workers actively seeking work increasing by 19.3 per cent.