CFIB Calls on Feds to End Trucker Vaccine Mandate

A small business group is calling on the federal government to reverse its ban on unvaccinated truck drivers from coming into Canada, citing the policy will result in greater supply shortages and price increases that will drive even more companies to the brink.

“Small businesses were already facing a major supply chain crunch and cost increases on everything from fuel to building materials,” says Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) president, Dan Kelly.

Supply chain issues and inflation top the list of business worries for 2022, according to CFIB’s latest survey. The association says this newest hurdle places even more pressure on an already strained system following the strike at the Port of Montreal and congestion at the Port of Vancouver, flooding that cut off roads and trains from British Columbia in November, and other delays throughout 2021. In addition, the transportation industry has been one of the hardest hit by labour shortages, with 68 per cent of businesses in the sector unable to find enough staff for current operations or to expand, according to a report CFIB published in December.

In turn, small businesses are predicting historically high price increases of 4.4 per cent over the next 12 months. Price increases of this magnitude are likely to hurt small businesses’ ability to compete at a time when many are still struggling to get back to normal sales, says CFIB. The latest results on the association’s small business recovery dashboard show that only 30 per cent are making normal sales (down from 36 per cent in November), 42 per cent are fully staffed (down from 45 per cent in November) and 65 per cent are fully open (down from 78 per cent in November).

“We’re already seeing major delays for necessary supplies,” says Corinne Pohlmann, senior vice-president of national affairs at CFIB. “Two years into the pandemic, it’s time for governments to stop enacting rules that create unnecessary roadblocks to small business recovery and instead focus on helping them address these problems.”