Ontario Audit Finds 54 Truck Schools Never Inspected, Two Issued CDLs After 59-Hour Courses

Ontario's auditor general found that provincial regulators failed to inspect 54 of 216 registered truck driving schools as of March 2025, while undercover investigators caught two schools issuing Entry Level Training certificates to students who received as little as 59.5 hours of instruction, 44 hours below the mandatory 103.5-hour minimum.

The May 12 audit from Auditor General Shelley Spence examined Ontario's Class A commercial driver licensing system, which governs tractor-trailer operators. Large commercial trucks account for 3% of vehicles on Ontario roads but are involved in 12% of fatal crashes.

How many hours of training did Ontario schools actually provide?

Spence's office sent undercover investigators to six truck driving schools between June and December 2025. Two private career colleges provided only 59.5 hours and 81 hours of training. Ontario requires 103.5 hours minimum for Entry Level Training certification.

Some students were never taught left turns at major intersections, reverse parking, or emergency stopping, according to the report. Auditors found evidence of falsified student records and schools failing to maintain documentation proving students completed required instruction.

The audit examined the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES), which oversees private career colleges offering commercial driver training. Of the 216 registered schools offering ELT as of March 2025, 54 had never been inspected. More than half of schools that had reached the ministry's five-year reinspection threshold still had not been reinspected.

What Ontario's oversight failures mean for cross-border carriers

U.S. carriers hiring Ontario-licensed drivers face a compliance gap. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires carriers to verify that drivers hold a valid commercial driver's license, but FMCSA does not audit the training standards behind foreign CDLs. A carrier that hires an Ontario Class A driver certified by one of the uninspected schools is relying on a provincial system the auditor general says failed to enforce its own minimum training hours.

Canadian provinces issue their own commercial driver's licenses under a national framework, but enforcement is provincial. Ontario's Class A license is recognized across Canada and by U.S. authorities under the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS) reciprocity agreements. A driver who received 59.5 hours of training in Ontario can cross into Michigan, New York, or any other U.S. state with the same operating authority as a driver who completed 160 hours at a U.S. school.

The audit did not name the two schools that provided substandard training. Ontario law allows the ministry to suspend or revoke a private career college's registration for failing to meet training standards, but the report did not say whether enforcement action was taken against the schools investigators visited.

What the audit found about falsified records and missing documentation

Auditors discovered schools issuing ELT certificates without maintaining records proving students completed required instruction. Some schools falsified student attendance logs. The report did not specify how many schools engaged in record falsification or how many certificates were issued without proper documentation.

Ontario's ELT program requires schools to submit training records to the ministry, but the audit found the ministry did not verify the accuracy of submitted records. Schools self-reported compliance, and the ministry accepted the reports without independent verification.

The ministry's inspection process relies on scheduled visits announced in advance. Schools know when inspectors are coming and can prepare documentation. The auditor general's undercover investigation bypassed that process by enrolling investigators as students without notifying the schools.

How Ontario's system compares to U.S. entry-level driver training rules

FMCSA's Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) rule, which took effect February 7, 2022, requires CDL applicants to complete theory and behind-the-wheel training from a provider listed on FMCSA's Training Provider Registry (TPR). The rule does not specify a minimum number of hours. Instead, it requires schools to certify that students demonstrated proficiency in specific skills, including backing, shifting, turning, and vehicle inspection.

Ontario's 103.5-hour minimum is higher than the training hours many U.S. schools provide under FMCSA's proficiency-based standard. But the auditor general's findings show that a higher hour requirement does not guarantee compliance when regulators fail to inspect schools or verify training records.

FMCSA audits TPR-listed schools through its New Entrant Safety Assurance Process and periodic compliance reviews, but the agency does not conduct undercover investigations of training providers. FMCSA relies on state enforcement agencies to inspect schools and investigate complaints.

What U.S. carriers must verify when hiring Canadian drivers

FMCSA regulation 49 CFR 391.11 requires motor carriers to verify that every driver holds a valid CDL. The regulation does not require carriers to audit the training behind the license. A carrier that hires an Ontario Class A driver satisfies the CDL requirement by confirming the license is valid and not suspended, even if the driver received substandard training.

Carriers can request a driver's training records from the school that issued the ELT certificate, but Ontario law does not require schools to provide records to U.S. employers. A carrier that wants to verify an Ontario driver's training hours has no regulatory mechanism to compel the school to produce documentation.

The annual MVR checks carriers rely on to monitor driver license status do not include training-hour verification. An MVR shows license class, endorsements, restrictions, and violations, but it does not show how many hours of training the driver completed before obtaining the license.

What Ontario's ministry said it will do

The audit included responses from MCURES. The ministry agreed with the auditor general's recommendations and said it would increase inspections of private career colleges, implement unannounced audits, and verify training records submitted by schools.

The ministry did not commit to a timeline for inspecting the 54 schools that had never been inspected or the schools that had exceeded the five-year reinspection threshold. The audit did not say whether the ministry would revoke or suspend the registrations of the two schools that provided 59.5 and 81 hours of training.

Ontario's Ministry of Transportation, which issues Class A licenses, was not named as a respondent in the audit. The auditor general's report focused on MCURES, which regulates private career colleges, not the licensing authority.

What this means for carriers hiring Ontario drivers this week

Carriers cannot rely on an Ontario Class A license as proof that the driver received 103.5 hours of training. The auditor general's investigation proved that at least two schools issued certificates after providing 59.5 and 81 hours of instruction, and 54 schools had never been inspected.

A carrier that wants to verify an Ontario driver's training should request the ELT certificate and contact the issuing school to confirm the driver completed the full course. If the school refuses to provide documentation or cannot produce attendance records, the carrier has no regulatory recourse, but the refusal is a red flag.

Carriers should also check whether the school is listed on Ontario's registry of private career colleges. MCURES publishes the registry online, but the audit found that being registered does not guarantee the school was inspected or that it complies with training standards. A carrier that hires a driver from an uninspected school is accepting the risk that the driver's training fell short of Ontario's minimum.