Alberta Exempts Farmers From MELT and Plans a New Class 1 Pathway

In April 2024, Alberta began issuing farm-restricted Class 1 licences that let eligible farmers and their family members drive semi-trucks for farm purposes without first completing Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT). The change took effect on April 1, 2024, days after the province announced that a new Class 1 "learning pathway" would later replace MELT for other new truck drivers.

The farm-restricted licence

According to the province's farm-restricted Class 1 licence page, eligible farmers and family members could apply for the licence from April 1, 2024. Applicants still had to pass the Class 1 knowledge and road tests and a vision screening, submit a driver's medical assessment, and hold the air brake (Q) endorsement. They were not required to complete pre-licensing training.

The licence carries condition code "P" and comes with limits. Holders could drive Class 1 vehicles only within Alberta, with narrow allowances around Lloydminster and Highway 17 on the Saskatchewan border, and only for set farm purposes, such as delivering animals, grain or produce to the farm for its own use or to market when the farmer had grown or raised it, and moving material or equipment the farmer owned and used to run the farm. To qualify, an applicant had to be actively farming in Alberta, or be a family member of such a farmer, and the farm generally had to produce at least $10,000 a year in farm commodities. The province's page also notes a lower threshold for farmers whose only other significant income is the Canada Pension Plan or Old Age Security.

A new pathway announced

In late March 2024, the province announced it would replace MELT, which it introduced in 2019, with a new learning pathway for Class 1 drivers. Global News reported that Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, said the pathway would bring more in-cab training hours, a wider scope of training, and training better suited to particular industries.

Under the plan as announced, applicants would, starting in March 2025, work toward a Red Seal designation and recognition of truck driving as a professional trade, while getting on-the-job training in the type of vehicle they would use in their career.

MELT required new Class 1 drivers to complete more than 100 hours of training. It was introduced in Alberta and other provinces after the April 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash in Saskatchewan, in which 16 people died.

Reaction

Robert Harper, president of the Alberta Motor Transport Association, told Global News there were 4,000 current job vacancies and that MELT had been expensive. He said the new approach would focus drivers on skills rather than just hours of training.

Carol Brons, whose daughter Dayna died in the Humboldt crash and who is a director with Safer Roads Canada, told Global News she supported the changes if they led to a more competency-based program with more in-depth skills training. She also pointed to gaps in how driver records are shared between provinces.

What did not change

For drivers who were not farmers, MELT remained the requirement for a Class 1 licence in April 2024. The new pathway was a plan for the following year, and its details had not yet taken effect.

Archive: this article describes rules and events as of April 2024. Regulations may have changed since, so check the current rule before relying on it.