In many ways, the fuel that drives CHET forward is our team’s shared commitment to making a positive social impact on the community.
One of the ways we strive to better the community is by helping individuals interested in pursuing a career as a truck driver access funding for their training. This is important because the cost associated with truck driver training and the stigma associated with truck driving lacking federal recognition as a skilled trade are obstacles that make attracting new talent into truck driving challenging.
The reality is that because the profession lacks federal recognition as a skilled trade, drivers need not complete an apprenticeship. This means they are able to gain employment and start earning a regular salary much more quickly. The only difference is that more experienced drivers, such as those driving 5 or more years, are generally able to handle more dispatches than new drivers with 1 to 3 years of experience, and thereby earn a higher income. That said, many “rock star drivers” graduated CHET and went on to out earn much more experienced colleagues in their first year or two.
CHET guides prospective drivers through the steps they must take to receive funding through one of our affiliated programs. For instance, those in need of financial assistance can apply for a loan through our partner, PayBright. If you are interested in pursuing a career behind the wheel but are unable to afford the cost of training, you need simply apply; they send us the funding and you are all set to begin your course.
We also provide job matching and placement, career planning options, one on one assistance and personal goal setting. Unemployed youth are welcome aged 20 to 29.
At CHET we are very proud to be connected with a wide variety of funding options and assistance: https://chet.ca/funding-options/.
Despite the many benefits of a career behind the wheel, funding driver’s training can be an overwhelming undertaking for some prospective drivers. Some prospective drivers are new immigrants, recent refugees or simply face financial hardships and limitations. Others may simply find it difficult to prioritize the long-term gain over their short-term realities when it comes to payments. That is why solidifying funding options and connecting with municipalities as well as immigrant and refugee centres has always been central to CHET. By tapping into existing government funded programs and successfully connecting to municipalities and community centers, we are able to help connect individuals with funding.
Assisting immigrants and refugees with accessing funding to complete training is a win-win! CHET is able to empower immigrants and refugees to establish a fulfilling and profitable career path while simultaneously attracting new talent to an industry with a growing driver shortage. A study run by the Conference Board of Canada on behalf of the Canadian Trucking Alliance showed a projected shortage of over 22,000 drivers by 2020!
As an example of our efforts to assist newcomers, Musket and CHET developed a relationship with Costi Immigrant Services, an organization that enables us to reach out to Syrian refugees seeking to secure employment and ease their transition to a new life in Canada. We now worl with Costi’s Mississauga Employment Services branch. Their team of professional career consultants work one on one with immigrants so they can explore career options, develop employment goals and learn the requirements for job training and placement in their field of choice.
We are pleased to be a recognized supplier of training and potential employer for Syrian refugees and other newcomers to Canada with a background in transportation or interest in pursuing a second career path. It is our hope that this relationship will allow us to play a role in empowering Syrian refugees and others to find steady employment in an industry of their choosing. Costi provides government-funded grants that allow them to complete the CHET program, making our program accessible to all eligible applicants.
Just as prospective drivers benefit from funding, so too does CHET. The heavy equipment and land required for proper training is costly. Committed to arming it students with the best tools and skills for success, CHET invests in high-end technology to further advance the training experience of our students. Funding options allow us to make these investments and ensure we are consistently booked for AZ, DZ and Air Brake training.
In addition to affording us the ability to attract more individuals into the industry through funded programs, we are also able to achieve our goal of having a positive social impact. For instance, thanks to our valued partnership with the City of Hamilton, we were able to train and transform the life of a homeless individual. Soon after his training and employment at Musket, he was able to secure and afford his own residence.
Through our relationships with community centres, we have helped solidify new and permanent lives in Ontario for immigrants and refugees. Many of these funding programs have been especially successful because the municipality or community centre provides ESL support prior to the prospective drivers’ introduction into the AZ or DZ curriculum. Take a look at what two CHET students who were recent immigrants at the time of their training and now drive for Musket had to say about their experiences: https://youtu.be/2MjavGlPixQ and https://youtu.be/XC_XezLCDRg