Some members of Windsor’s trucking industry say changes to the administration of Ontario’s international registration plan (IRP) program, which allows commercial trucks to cross the U.S. and provincial borders, has led to weeks-long delays — costing them tens of thousands of dollars and making even more stressful a period of economic uncertainty brought on by U.S. tariffs.
The province transferred the program to Service Ontario, effective March 3, according to its website.
It commits to delivering credentials within five days when applications involve 10 or fewer trucks.
But one owner-operator who applied for new plates at the end of February said he still hasn’t received them — and he has lost at least $20,000 worth of work as a result.
“I have a truck and trailer that they parked now almost for three months, and I’m broke; I have no money to survive or to do anything” Hocine Hamimed said.
“I went to work in a warehouse just moving chairs and things like that. … [the people running the IRP program] have no responsibility. They don’t care.”
The International Registration Plan (IRP) is an agreement between some Canadian provinces and U.S. states that allows vehicles to travel between participating provinces and states with one licence plate and registration document.
Those who are not registered with the IRP must purchase trip permits to travel outside Ontario.
The owner of one company that transports produce from Windsor-Essex across Canada and the U.S. said he’s tried to register nine new vehicles since the transition.
More than 60 days later, Marden Buerhan is still waiting to complete the process for seven of them.
That’s costing him both business and money, said Buerhan, who runs Etlas Freight.
“Each truck — the payment itself is between $4,000 to $5,000 … per month,” he said.
“And the drivers – I hired [a] first crew of drivers … They waited two weeks, and the third week, they come to the office, they said, ‘Listen, I cannot wait too long. I have to keep going for another job.’ They left. I hired another second crew of drivers. Same thing. They left. So, this process … is also, yes, time consuming and [costs] money.”
Prior to the transition to Service Ontario, applications to register new trucks or renew existing ones were handled by a local IRP office, typically within three to five business days, said Colleen Breault, the certified director of safety and compliance for CB Safety Services, a safety and compliance consultancy that handles a lot of IRP applications for trucking companies.
Now, companies must apply through a central department then book an appointment at their local office through a central web portal once their invoices come through.
“I went onto the portal,” Breault said.
“There is unequivocally no dates available now in Windsor.”
The province says the move to Service Ontario is part of modernization initiatives designed to make services easier.
Her only other options are to mail in her original documents, hoping they don’t get lost, or book an appointment with the office in London, she said.
Meanwhile, Brault waited more than six weeks to renew a fleet of vehicles that were due to expire at the end of March, she said.
The province has now issued an extension to truckers with plates that expire between March 31 and May 31; those plates will remain valid until June 30.
Breault said she has called Service Ontario to check on the status of her applications but found the agents unhelpful.
“[T]hey can tell you, ‘Yes, we received your application. No, it has not been assigned to a process agent. Please just be patient with us'” she said.
“It’s almost, like, scripted.”
Lately, she said, she has been reaching out to Essex Progressive Conservative MPP Anthony Leardi to get help moving her applications along.
Buerhan, of Etlas Freight, sent a representative to the Service Ontario office in Toronto to see if he could expedite their applications, he said.
“There was one gentleman sitting there, and they told him, ‘Do not come here; just communicate with us online. We cannot help you,'” he said.
Hamimed, the owner-operator currently working in a warehouse, said he too tried to visit the Service Ontario office in Toronto but all the staff person did was tell him they were doing their best.
Buerhan has sent messages to Service Ontario officials expressing his frustration, he said.
“I told him this is hurting our business now, hurting our industry,” he said.
“I said, we were fighting with this tariff situation. And now, the economy is bad, and now you guys are dragging this thing.”
Breault agreed that the industry already has enough to deal with without the IRP problems.
“We know of a lot of trucking companies that are closing their doors already just because of the volatility that we’re in with our economic environment, let alone having one more added upheaval that we need to go through in a not-well-thought-out program,” she said.
CBC News asked the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement for a response to the business-owners complaints, as well as Minister Stephen Crawford why the change was made and what, if anything, the province intends to do to address the concerns.
Crawford’s spokesperson, Matthew D’Amico replied by email that, “[t]his initiative is part of our government’s work to modernize services and make it easier for carriers to meet their vehicle registration needs in one convenient visit.”
D’Amico also reiterated that the province is offering a registration extension for plates expiring before May 31.
“Service Ontario is prioritizing urgent requests from carriers,” D’Amico added.
