Alberta is considering new measures that would require aspiring truck drivers to have two years of general road experience before obtaining their commercial licence.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Alberta Transport Minister Devin Dreeshen said the move is part of a suite of efforts to improve road safety and “clean up” the trucking industry.

“When you have two years of experience of driving a regular vehicle, you can at least experience the four seasons of weather that we have here in Alberta, as well as just being comfortable with how people drive in the province,” he said.

The province will examine its road safety laws this fall, and could introduce the proposed licensing changes at that time, said Mr. Dreeshen.

Those at the helms of heavy-duty vehicles should “be the best drivers on our roads,” he said. “We’ve seen lots of statistics of accidents as well as anecdotal evidence of seeing bad truck drivers on Alberta roads.”

However, the two-year experience requirement could present issues for a sector that is struggling to attract drivers, said Robert Harper, president of the Alberta Motor Transport Association, which represents more than 1,000 trucking companies in the province.

“I don’t think it’s something that industry’s been looking for,” he said. “We talk about issues of being able to get people into the driving profession, and I think this would be another bit of a barrier.”

If the same measures are not introduced in other jurisdictions, it could also drive young Albertan job seekers out of the province, he added.

Mr. Dreeshen said the ministry is exploring whether eligibility would require experience driving with an Alberta standard drivers’ licence, or if out-of-province experience would qualify.

Since October, 2025, the province has also shut down 20 unsafe trucking carriers – including a firm, Conquer Transport, that was decertified in Manitoba over safety issues but later set up in Alberta under a slightly different name, Conquer Transportation.

As previously reported by The Globe, one of the firm’s trucks was involved in a fatal accident in Brandon, leading to calls for a national trucking registry to better track bad actors.

A Globe investigation published earlier this year found that poor information sharing and weak penalties are undermining enforcement efforts in the trucking sector. In June, The Globe revealed that Conquer Transport was granted permission by the federal government on three occasions to hire temporary foreign workers, after its safety fitness certificate was revoked by Manitoba regulators in 2021.

In recent months, Alberta has also prevented some 40 chameleon carriers – companies who move jurisdictions to evade regulators – from setting up in the province, and shuttered five fraudulent truck driving schools.

While all provinces require commercial licence candidates to have a valid general standard licence, not all impose a time requirement to become a heavy-duty truck driver. Quebec and Prince Edward Island, however, both mandate two years of general driving experience; Nova Scotia and Newfoundland require one year.

In January, 2027, Ontario will impose a six-month general driving experience requirement for those seeking a licence to drive a tractor-trailer.

Vijaydeep Singh Sahasi, president of the West Coast Trucking Association, which advocates for fair working conditions for drivers, said he supports stronger guardrails around commercial licensing to ensure aspiring truck drivers have sufficient experience on Canadian roads prior to accreditation.

“I would second it very strongly,” he said of Alberta’s proposed policy.

Mr. Dreeshen said the province is considering a two-year experience period, rather than a shorter term, because a similar requirement already exists for 16-year-old drivers in Alberta – who cannot apply for a commercial licence until they are 18.

“There’s lots of places in the world that don’t have the seasons and the type of weather that we have here in Alberta,” he added.

“So to be able to experience that is something that I think could go a long way in improving the traffic safety in the province.”