Licensed in a few months. Everything in every store got there on a truck.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
Programs in the fields this career usually comes through. Each has its own page: what it takes to get in, the courses you need and what it costs.
The median pay is about $55,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $40,000 at the lower end to about $77,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
Up to 1 year after high school, on the usual route.
From nothing up to about $12,500, depending on the route, for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
Yes. It is a regulated job, so you need a licence or registration before you can work.
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$55,000
Lower end
$40,000
Upper end
$77,000
Job Bank's national median is $26.42 an hour, about $55,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The low is $19.45 and the high is $37, about $40,000 and $77,000. Long-haul drivers are usually paid per kilometre rather than per hour. Owner-operators who own their truck set their own rates and carry all the costs.
$34 an hour
The median in Yukon, the highest in Canada
Among the provinces, British Columbia ($30.77) and Alberta ($30) are highest. Ontario's median is $26 and New Brunswick's is the lowest, at $23. Fuel tankers, oversized loads and cross-border runs can pay more, but Job Bank does not measure them separately.
79.5%
Of truck drivers get at least one non-wage benefit
Job Bank's national figure: a pension, health coverage, paid leave or similar. Small carriers offer less than large fleets and union shops.
Roughly, all in
Nothing to $12,500
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a carrier that pays for your MELT (mandatory entry level training) in exchange for signing on to drive for them for a set period, which is common and genuinely costs the learner nothing up front. The high end is paying for the roughly 100 hour course yourself at up to 12,000, plus the road test fee and a medical exam that provincial health insurance does not cover. Provincial retraining grants can also cover the course for eligible applicants. Read a carrier sponsored contract carefully, because leaving early usually means paying the training back.
Some carriers cover training if you sign a contract to drive for them. Second Career and similar grants can cover the course.
Sign-on bonuses
Common during shortages.
Health and dental
At larger carriers.
Pension
Union shops and some large fleets.
Per diems on the road
Meal allowances for long-haul, usually not taxed as income.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
One of the shortest routes on this site.
Full driver's licence
Before you start
A regular Class G (Ontario) or Class 5 licence, age 18 or older. Cross-border work into the US requires age 21.
Entry-level training
1 to 2 months
Most provinces now require a training course before the Class 1 (called AZ in Ontario) licence test. Ontario's MELT (mandatory entry-level training) is about 100 hours over roughly 4 to 6 weeks.
Medical and written knowledge test
Days
A doctor confirms you are fit to drive commercially. Then the written test on rules and air brakes.
Road test
1 day
Pre-trip inspection, backing, and an on-road test in a tractor-trailer.
First job
Weeks
Most new drivers start local or regional. Some carriers require a year of experience before long-haul.
A clean driving abstract
Carriers check it. Tickets and collisions matter.
Clean criminal record
Required for cross-border and many domestic jobs.
Basic mechanical knowledge
Pre-trip inspections are part of every day.
You need a Class 1 (most provinces) or Class A/AZ (Ontario) licence with an air brake endorsement. Licences are recognized across Canada. Driving into the US requires a FAST card (a trusted-driver border pass) or passport and a clean record. Hours of service are regulated and tracked by electronic logging devices.
Quebec has a full vocational diploma in trucking, and since 15 December 2025 you need either that diploma or a recognized 125 hour course before you can get a class 1 licence.
Finish Secondary V, or Secondary IV courses
Secondary V
The DEP (Diploma of Vocational Studies) in Trucking takes a high school diploma, or age 16 with Secondary IV language, second language and math. From 18, the general development test is another way in.
Two years on a class 5 licence
2 years
The SAAQ (Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec, the licensing body) wants at least 24 months of class 5 driving, fewer than 4 demerit points and no suspension in the last 2 years.
DEP in Trucking (5291, or 5791 in English)
About 5 months
615 hours at a public vocational centre. At the CFTR (Centre de formation du transport routier) in Saint-Jérôme the only listed fee is $43.70 for materials. English classes run at its Mirabel and Boucherville sites.
Or the shorter PESR course
125 hours or more
The PESR (Programme d'éducation à la sécurité routière, the road safety course) at a school the SAAQ recognizes: at least 125 hours, 75 of theory and 50 behind the wheel.
SAAQ exams
Weeks
A medical report and vision test, then a theory exam for the class 1 learner licence. Last, a 20 minute pre-trip inspection exam and a road test of about an hour. 75% passes each.
Fees as listed by the SAAQ (Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec). If you fail an exam you can retake it 7 days later. The training itself is a separate cost.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Dangerous goods (TDG certificate)
Fuel and chemicals.
Tanker and heavy haul experience
Specialized work.
FAST card (trusted-driver border pass)
Faster border crossings, needed for many US routes.
Owner-operator
Buy your own truck (well over $150,000) and contract to carriers. You carry the costs and the risk.
Forklift ticket
Useful for local delivery work.
Winter driving experience
Customer service skills
Local drivers deal with customers all day.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Local: start early, pre-trip inspection, multiple deliveries around the city, home at night. Long-haul: days or weeks away from home, sleeping in the truck's bunk, driving up to 13 hours a day within the legal limits, loading and unloading at warehouses, and handling border crossings. Weather is a constant factor in Canada.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Job Bank counted about 319,400 people working as transport truck drivers in Canada in 2023. 48% of them were 50 or over, and the median retirement age was 67.
Job Bank expects a moderate risk of a shortage of transport truck drivers nationally from 2024 to 2033. Its 3-year ratings are moderate in 6 provinces and territories, good in 5 and limited in 2.
Federal rules stop a commercial driver from driving after 13 hours of driving or 14 hours on duty in a day, then require 8 hours off in a row. An electronic logging device in the truck records it.
Ontario made entry-level training mandatory for the tractor-trailer licence on July 1, 2017. Quebec followed on December 15, 2025, with a course of at least 125 hours.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Road first, then the rest of the field. See every career in transport.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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