CTV News Calgary has reported:

Insolvencies in Canada’s transportation and warehouse sector climbed 36 per cent in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, as high diesel prices and tariffs weigh on businesses. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy reported the increase, while industry representatives also pointed to limited freight and low wages as pressures contributing to company failures.

“Since probably 2024, we’ve seen softness in the amount of freight available,” said Robert Harper, president of the Alberta Motor Transport Association. Harper said many people bought trucks after the COVID-19 pandemic, financing them at high interest rates as they entered the transportation industry. At that time, he said, there was strong demand for drivers to move goods across the country.

Harper identified high diesel prices and the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs as factors now driving insolvencies. “We’ve seen lot of truckers chasing less freight,” he said. Harper said small and medium-sized companies are the ones going out of business.

He also cited what he called “the driver misclassification issue,” saying it exploits temporary foreign workers. “We have one segment of the population that runs according to employment laws, and we have another section that’s undermining employment laws and reducing, freight rates and paying people way below minimum wage,” Harper said.

Raj Singh, who has worked as a truck driver for 10 years, linked the failures to low wages caused by a surplus of workers. “The pay rate is too low for contractors,” Singh said. “Diesel is high, insurance is high, so that’s why they’re not making profit margin for the company.” He said fewer independent drivers are working. “They are leaving the industry right now, profits hit the bottom,” he said.

Harper and Singh both want more action to remove non-compliant drivers from the industry. Harper also wants the federal government to help increase the volume of goods being shipped and invest in highway infrastructure. “You got to make sure that we’re set to move product to the east and west coast, to get to new markets,” he said.

Transport Canada said it recognizes the challenges facing transport businesses. A department spokesperson said: “Transport Canada is following the issue of worker misclassification and associated tax implications in the trucking sector closely and is supporting the Employment and Social Development Canada Labour Program and the Canada Revenue Agency in their oversight work.”