Ontario’s driver training system riddled with oversight failures, audit says

An auditor general report from the Canadian province of Ontario has concluded authorities failed to effectively monitor commercial truck driver training, inspections and licensing, uncovering widespread compliance gaps that industry groups warn have jeopardized highway safety for years.

The May 12 audit found that some truck driving schools issued Entry Level Training (ELT) certificates without providing the province’s required minimum training hours, while regulators failed to inspect dozens of schools offering commercial driver instruction.

The report examined Ontario’s Class A commercial driver licensing system, which governs tractor-trailer operators. Auditors noted that large commercial trucks account for only about 3% of vehicles on Ontario roads but are involved in 12% of fatal crashes.

Ontario Auditor General Shelley Spence’s office sent undercover “secret shoppers” to six truck driving schools between June and December 2025. Investigators found two private career colleges provided only 59. 5 hours and 81 hours of training, well below the province’s mandatory minimum of 103. 5 hours.

According to the report, some students were never taught critical maneuvers such as left turns at major intersections, reverse parking and emergency stopping. Auditors also found evidence of falsified student records and schools failing to maintain documentation proving students completed required instruction.

The report said Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES) had never inspected 54 of the province’s 216 registered private career colleges offering ELT as of March 2025. More than half of schools that had reached the ministry’s five-year reinspection threshold had still not been reinspected.

Auditors also discovered that six unregistered schools previously investigated and penalized by regulators were still booking road tests as recently as June 2025.

The report further criticized the lack of coordination between MCURES and Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO), saying inspection and investigation results were not routinely shared between agencies.

Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation also failed to consistently test commercial drivers on highway driving and reversing maneuvers, according to the audit. Some DriveTest centers used lower-speed expressways for testing, while others only evaluated one type of reversing exercise instead of randomly selecting maneuvers as required.

The auditor’s office also questioned Ontario’s licensing requirements, noting that drivers with demerit points, suspensions or convictions could still obtain Class A or D commercial licenses. The province accepted all 13 recommendations outlined in the audit.

Following the report’s release, Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities Nolan Quinn said every career college offering commercial truck driver training would be inspected within six weeks. The province had already inspected 14 trucking colleges as of May 13. “We’re going to continue going after the bad actors,” Quinn told CBC News.

“Since we have taken office we have closed 19 career colleges, 11 of those are trucking colleges.” Mike Millian, president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, said the audit validated concerns long raised by trucking industry stakeholders.

“The PMTC, along with many other stakeholders, unfortunately are not the least bit surprised by the AG’s report,” Millian wrote in commentary released Monday.

Millian said industry groups warned Ontario officials as early as 2017 that the province needed stronger compliance and enforcement measures before implementing mandatory entry-level training standards. “For a period of six years, none of these recommendations were acted upon,” Millian wrote.

“The current mess we are in did not occur overnight; it was allowed to fester and expand over a period of years with no meaningful changes or enforcement occurring.” Millian also criticized weak enforcement penalties and oversight gaps that allowed suspended or unregistered schools to continue operating.

“The fact that this can occur is insane, is reckless, & clearly has a detrimental effect on road safety,” Millian wrote regarding suspended training organizations continuing to certify drivers.

The PMTC said it is now working with Ontario officials on proposed reforms, including mandatory waiting periods before drivers can attempt a Class A road test, enhanced auditing, tougher penalties and expanded oversight measures. Ontario officials have already begun implementing some changes.

According to the audit, the province established a Driver Training Compliance Oversight Modernization Office in 2025 and has begun coordinated inspections between transportation and education regulators. The post Ontario’s driver training system riddled with oversight failures, audit says appeared first on FreightWaves.