New data from Ontario’s Operation Deterrence has shown to be a success in identifying and combatting non-compliance in trucking, but also exposes the growing safety and security concerns the Ontario Trucking Association has warned about for a decade.
The initiative came after the Ontario Trucking Association called on the province to increase border security and target illegal activities from the transportation sector in the wake of President Trump’s announcement to implement tariffs.
OTA’s recommendations at the time included increasing operating hours of truck inspection station locations, increasing the presence of government agencies like the Ministry of Labour, joint blitzes by labour and police officials on immigration concerns and other abuses permeating cross-border trade.
OTA requested a recap of ministry’s activities for the first quarter. The data corroborates survey feedback pouring in from the OTA members that report increased enforcement presence along Ontario highways.
Operation Deterrence consists of “focused patrols to deter, detect and disrupt illegal border activity” and includes commercial motor vehicle inspections.
Some high-level highlights from the data shows:
- Since January 7, 2025, over 48,000 commercial vehicle inspections have been completed as part of Operation Deterrence.
- Ontario is on pace to complete well over 100,000 in 2025 as part of Operation Deterrence.
“The scope, scale and result of MTO’s efforts are impressive,” said Mark Bylsma, OTA Chair.
In addition, MTO’s data shows:
- 32 vehicles have been impounded for serious safety defects.
- 151 inspections have resulted in a vehicle plate removal for significant violations, such as invalid annual safety inspections.
- Almost 3,000 inspections have resulted in a vehicle being placed out-of-service. This represents almost 6.2% of all inspections resulting in an out-of-service.
- Over 14,000 separate violations have been identified.
- Approximately 18.5% of all inspections identified at least one defect/violation.
- Over 4,200 charges have been issued.
- Over 22,500 separate types of non-compliance issues have been documented.
“This is exactly what we need at this time from MTO. It is undeniable, we have seen a deterioration of safety on our provincial highways in recent years and we applaud MTO for their recent efforts to identify and crack down on non-compliance in our industry,” said Bylsma. “However, the increase of unsafe operators from within and outside of Ontario is something all jurisdictions need to take more seriously and need to step up by putting more boots on the ground and producing results like this. Efforts like Operation Deterrence restores confidence in enforcement oversight and sends a signal to everyone that highway safety and secure borders matter.”
Over the next few weeks OTA will be taking a deeper dive into the data and the results of the Q1 actions, including: the top violations and out-of-service orders, the extensive efforts to open trailer and container doors to ensure properly secured cargo, and a provincial plate scan to examine data on all operators generating revenue in the Ontario supply chain.
Relatedly, today the federal government introduced the Strong Borders Act to strengthen border security, support law enforcement to keep our borders secure, combat transnational organized crime, stop the flow of illegal fentanyl, and crack down on money laundering.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance will be responding after it reviews the Bill.