Truck driver job vacancies have declined 33% in Q1 2024 compared to last year, according to the latest Trucking HR Canada (THRC) national job vacancy update report released Wednesday.

Driver vacancies across Canada are currently at 15,460, a decrease of 7,785 from Q1 2023, and employment of drivers increased by 11.6%, adding 32,600 more drivers in Q1 compared to the same time last year.

The unemployment rate for drivers, however, rose year over year from 6.1% to 6.5%, with 3,400 more truck drivers actively looking for jobs. The core trucking and logistics sector also experienced an increase in the unemployment rate, rising from 3.8% in Q1 last year to 4.8% in Q1 2024.

“Currently, labor market pressures are easing, but we need to keep supporting the sector with targeted resources and programs to respond to anticipated long-term labor challenges,” said Craig Faucette, chief program officer of Trucking HR Canada, in a news release. “Our labor market forecast for the road ahead to 2030 confirms that labor demand will continue to significantly outpace supply, and we could see 40,400 vacancies in our sector.”

Overall, the report’s findings suggest that the market pressures are easing in the trucking and logistics sector, as the ratio of job seekers to job openings in Q1 2024 was higher than in any quarter of 2023.

Vacancies in Canada’s “core” trucking and logistics industries dropped by 36% to just over 10,000. Meanwhile, the employment growth in this sector was up 9%, with an increase of over 50,000 new employees.