Page 19 - Newcom

In addition to the South
Asian community, Payne said Harbour Link has engaged in talks recently about where the next faces of their workforce will come from, with women and Aboriginals being two talent pools the company must tap into.
Regardless of where they find drivers, Payne said it can be tough for new recruits to break into the industry and get hired by repu- table carriers, which often have higher standards for drivers, demanding more experience,
a cleaner abstract, and even a minimum age.
“You can work for a company that has lower standards, but that’s a disservice to yourself as a pro- fessional driver,” he said, “because you’re going to work for a guy who just throws the keys at you and hopes you make it home.” TW
“Whether you were born and raised in Canada or you were a new immigrant, the trucking industry didn’t seem to discriminate, but rather provided opportunity to those who were willing to work hard.”
– Daman Grewal
means additional hiring choices for carriers and a more welcom- ing environment for potential workers.
With the highest population of South Asians in Canada outside of Toronto, McGuinness said the area has a lot to offer.
“B.C. has lots going for it, beau- tiful scenery, mild climate in the Lower Mainland, and jobs,” she said. “The South Asian commu- nity here is long established, so there’s probably a sense of connec- tion and helping hands in commu- nities and the industry.”
Looking at statistics on South Asians in Canada, McGuinness is correct they have long been established in B.C., especially in trucking.
Since as far back as 1991, of the immigrants working in the indus- try, those from India made up 25.2%, and that number has only continued to rise. By 2001, that percentage reached 56.8%, and in 2016, 69.9% of all immigrant truck drivers were of Indian decent.
In Vancouver the numbers are even higher, with 38% of Indians making up the immigrant driver population in 1991, leaping to 70.5% in 2016.
Not even Toronto has such a high percentage of Indian drivers at 50% in 2016, and a mere 7.2% in 1991 – though the increase in the GTA would definitely suggest a
“changing face of trucking” unlike in B.C., where there has long been a South Asian presence in the industry.
Other cities that have seen jumps in immigrant drivers from India between 1991 and 2016 include Calgary, going from 3.9% to 61.5%, Edmonton, 15.5% to 50%, and Winnipeg and Regina, which had no Indian drivers in 1991 and are now both at or above the 50% mark.
Overall in Canada, Indians make up 43.7% of the immigrant driver population.
As for the high number of South Asians moving to the Abbotsford area, Grewal said there are several reasons why so many have chosen to call the region home.
Lower commercial land prices and business startup costs,
the conversion of farmlands
into trucking yards around the regional airport, the employment of South Asian farm workers as drivers, and affordable housing, to name a few.
“There have been more and more trucking companies setting up in Abbotsford and many of these companies are South Asian,” he said. “I think a lot of this has to do with the Lower Mainland being expensive and Abbotsford was the next largest city outside the Lower Mainland to get commercial prop- erties at a reasonable price.”
November 2018 • Truck West 19