Trucking Industry and Inflation in Canada

Only 25% of trucking companies in Canada are operating profitably. (CFIB)

Gurpreet, Nancy, Vippin

Things were affordable in Canada before Covid-19 hit the streets. Most of the people were able to afford their needs. Recently inflation rate fell to 5.2% in February 2023 from 5.9% in January. The post-pandemic inflation rate was the highest in the last three decades at almost 7 percent in the last quarter of 2022. If we look at the diagram, the inflation rate back in 1990 was also relatively high, around more than 5.5 percent. That high peak suddenly dwindled to between 1 percent and 2 percent by 1995. Then, it was like a roller coaster but affordable and stayed below 3 percent for the whole time. As the pandemic hit, it started rising and peaked, and this is the highest inflation rate in three decades of history.

 

If we look at the Trucking Industry, it is the growing industry throughout the last decade and a half. In 2009 it contributed $25.97 Billion to the Canadian economy and gradually increased over time. After five years, in 2014, this Industry contributed $38.65 Billion to the Canadian economy. It decreased slightly to $37.87 billion the following year but again started rising. By the end of 2018, the share of Trucking transportation rose to $39.55 billion. The pandemic hit hard on every sector, and most fleet services have been shut down. This results in less demand for trucks. Trucks in Canada dropped by 6 percent in 2021 from 14,200 units produced in 2022 to 12,500 units manufactured the following year.

In 2019, 372,900 people were employed in Transportation and Transportation and warehousing Industry, making up 5.1 percent of Ontario’s workforce. Out of which 36.3 percent were only used in Truck transportation. Data from the Government of Canada for the year 2021 shows that 36,000 are employed in the Trucking sector in British Columbia. Across the prairies, this Industry employs 70,700 people in three provinces. In Atlantic Canada, 11450 people were used in this business. In the provinces of Northwestern Territory, Yukon and Nunavut, this Industry will hold 2,000, 800, and 400 employees, respectively, in 2021.

The trucking industry is one of Canada's leading employment providers and is crucial for North America. Covid-19 and the pandemic hit hard on this industry, too and also resulted in the inflation rate going higher.

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