Quebec is tightening the rules for who can get behind the wheel of a transport truck on its roads, with a change aimed squarely at drivers coming from neighbouring Ontario. According to CBC News, the province is now requiring truck drivers from Ontario to complete a practical exam if they want to work in Quebec, a measure officials tied to safety concerns in the trucking industry.
The new requirement is focused on less experienced drivers. Under the change, Ontario truck drivers who want to work in Quebec with less than two years of experience will now have to complete a practical exam in order to obtain an equivalent Quebec licence, rather than having their credentials transferred over automatically.
Officials say the change is meant to close a gap that some drivers had been using to their advantage. According to Quebec, there had been cases of people who lived in the province and wanted a truck driver's licence, but who had heard it was easier to qualify in Ontario, and so went to Ontario to get licensed there before switching over to a Quebec licence.
The announcement, made Thursday, lands against a painful backdrop on Quebec's roads. In the province, a memorial was recently created for a 13-year-old girl who died last month after colliding with a truck while she was riding her bicycle, a loss that has sharpened attention on the dangers posed by heavy vehicles.
It is not the first time such tragedies have prompted the province to act. Quebec launched a public inquiry into deaths caused by trucks last year, after a mother and son were killed in a crash, an inquiry that has already resulted in a string of new policies intended to make the roads safer.
With the latest measure, Quebec is signalling that it wants newcomers to its trucking sector to prove their skills before they can work in the province. By requiring less experienced Ontario drivers to pass a road test rather than simply carrying their licence across the provincial border, officials are moving to hold those drivers to Quebec's own standard as they seek to reduce the risk of further deadly crashes.