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Canadian town wins another court battle against illegal trucking operation

The town of Caledon said they have identified about 180 illegal trucking operations in the community. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The Canadian town of Caledon, Ontario, continues to aggressively target suspected illegal trucking operations in the community.

Caledon won a legal battle Monday against a trucking company known as 2423274 Ontario Inc., which was found guilty by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice of operating contrary to the town’s zoning bylaws.

The court ruled that the land was being used as an illegal trucking yard and storage facility despite being zoned for agricultural use. The court imposed a fine of $25,000 against the defendant and $50,000 against its corporation, 2423274 Ontario Inc., resulting in a total fine of $75,000. 

“We are pleased the courts continue to recognize the impact of bylaw violations and impose the appropriate penalties,” Caledon Mayor Annette Groves said in a news release


Caledon officials said complaints from residents about the trucking operation led city staff to investigate the property. 

“With the assistance of residents who report suspected illegal activity, we can reduce the effects of illegal trucking in Caledon to ensure the safety of residents and motorists,” Mark Sraga, Caledon’s director of building and municipal law enforcement, said in a statement.

Caledon, population 76,581, is located about 40 miles north of Toronto in the region of Peel, which is considered the heart of the trucking industry in the area. 

It is the latest illegal trucking operation in the Caledon area taken to court this year. In March, an illegal trucking operator was shut down and fined $45,000. In January, two separate trucking companies were shut down after a court ruled they broke the town’s zoning bylaws on land use. 


Caledon officials said they have identified more than 180 properties with suspected illegal trucking operations in the town and that they intend to go after all of them. Since 2020, owners of 57 properties have been charged with illegal truck parking and storage in the town.

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10 Comments

  1. Dave

    Nothing is legal in Canada anymore. The dream is over. My father started a business in 1977 and in those day all one had to do was work harder to make ends meet. The bureaucracy and red tape under the current regime has made life unaffordable and self employment completely unattainable. Now we have media reports (thanks C-11) assuring us that we are much safer due to these highly dangerous and illegal trucking activities being halted. I hope that people can wake up and finally see that the freedom that was given to us through the blood and tears of previous generations has been thrown to the wayside by JT and his globalization schemes. God bless Canada and keep us in your prayers.

  2. John M Stecz

    So sad the stupidity and the ignorance of modern society. Wonder what they are thinking when they are at the grocery store or any store for that matter. As to how the product they are purchasing got there. Sounds like California

  3. Cody

    See these are the reasons nobody wants to drive commercial trucks anymore. I understand stand the business was illegal but instead of slamming the owner and company with $75,000.00 worth of fines maybe the court should focus on helping the owner find a suitable location to operate the business in that commplies with the law. Like do people not understand Truckers are the people that keep the world going and thriving its not your suit dummies in parliment that keep your world going and on the other hand there is no truck parking resolution yet like Canada is short of 30,000 commercial drivers but the system pulls this kind of s**t on drivers and that folks is why nobody wants to drive and the reason why there is a driver shortage.

  4. Vyacheslav Vinogradov

    Welcome to stupid Canada. You can not find truck parking , you can not have a single rest area from St Armand Quebec/Usa border all the way to Montreal.

    But you, Canada, can impose the restrictions and slap companies with fines.

    Show me where our gouvernement helps us, truckers, do the business???
    We can not get trucker insurance, parking is nearly non-existent. The whole transportation system is built around mega-carriers that are willing to monopolize the market and kill out the competition from the small carriers.

    I used to be an owner of small independent fleet of 8 trucks and 15 trailers. My company was shut down by Echelon Insurance for the reason of not having not a single accident , not a single claim, clean CVOR , Us Dot and NIR records. I was too good to be true and still Echelon insurance shut me down back in 2019 in the middle of my 1 year insurance contract.

    No matter how good the small carrier is , the City Municipality , Canadian Gouvernement and Insurance providers will all be against having a small carrier in their view.

    If you think I am just ranting about my story, check the reviews of Echelon Insurance. There you will find my story with the picture of the profit sharing refund I have obtained from Echelon Insurance for not having any claims in 2018. As soon as I recieved the refund from Echelon, my company Andre Vachon Inc was shut down in Quebec.

  5. Stephen Webster

    Do ship any place within 50 km
    A plan 7 yrs ago to build a 300 plus semi truckstop with a 9 bay shop of which 2 bays was for reefer repair 1 bay for 2 first response units 2 bays for trailer repair 3 bays for power units 1 bay for bus and rv was turned by the local gov along a plan to have 100 R V spots and 2 car and light truck parking spots and a shuttle to the go bus

  6. Joe Sunday

    NIMBY’s. The industry should simply boycott any freight movement into or out of Caledon. The town appears to think it can do without trucks. If they can’t operate or park there, then they should just keep out. See how well that works!

Comments are closed.

Noi Mahoney

Noi Mahoney is a Texas-based journalist who covers cross-border trade, logistics and supply chains for FreightWaves. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English in 1998. Mahoney has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working for newspapers in Maryland and Texas. Contact [email protected]