We were pleased to see that Alberta’s government is improving Class 1 licensing and training with a new, made-in-Alberta learning pathway for professional truck drivers. 

Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) became a new pre-licensing requirement for Class 1 commercial drivers in Alberta on March 1, 2019. Since then, insurance claims have risen for Class 1 drivers and MELT has been identified by the trucking industry as one of the leading factors contributing to the ongoing commercial driver shortage, increasing time and costs for the driver recruitment process.  

The Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce has been advocating to the Government on our recommendations to Address the Truck Driver Shortage Through a Redesign of Class 1 Driver Training with many of our recommendations adopted by the Government. 

Our Chamber consulted with several businesses and industry professionals in the creation of our recommendations including the insurance industry, training providers, companies that employ truck drivers, agriculture, as well as the Alberta Motor Transport Association and the Insurance Bureau of Canada. 

We are pleased to see that in addition to creating an apprenticeship-style training, the new learning pathway also responds to the unique needs of Alberta farmers by exempting them and their immediate family from the requirement for pre-licence training and providing them a farm-restricted Class 1 driver’s licence.  

This new farm-restricted Class 1 driver’s licence will allow farmers and their immediate family members to operate Class 1 vehicles within Alberta only, and for authorized farm purposes only. Farmers who are eligible for the new farm-restricted Class 1 driver’s licence must still complete a knowledge test, road test and vision screening, and submit a driver medical assessment to demonstrate they can safely drive Class 1 vehicles. The farmer exemption will be implemented on April 1. 

We are also pleased that Budget 2024 invests $41 million over three years ($5 million in 2024-25 and $18 million in each of 2025-26 and 2026-27) in new funding to set up a commercial driver training grant that will support the implementation of a made-in-Alberta learning pathway. We'll continue to provide information as we learn more on these details.

Read the full Government Press Release.

We were pleased to correspond with Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, the Honourable Dale Nally since adopting our policy recommendations. We also corresponded with and met the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, the Honourable RJ Sirgurdson. We welcome the progress being made and are pleased to continue working on behalf of our members and industry for these positive steps forward.