Accountant for truckers and owner operators in Alberta

A sector the CRA is paying closer attention to

Trucking has been under real strain. Trucking HR Canada recorded transport truck driver employment down 7.3 percent year over year in March 2026, a loss of around 23,600 positions, with further declines through the spring before a partial rebound in May 2026. Margins have tightened, and more drivers have moved to operating through their own corporation.

That shift is exactly where the accounting risk sits. Where a driver incorporates but works for a single carrier under that carrier's direction, the CRA may treat the company as a personal services business, which removes the small business deduction and sharply limits what can be deducted. The arrangement has to be looked at honestly before it is set up, not after a review letter arrives. HBT reviews how you actually work, explains what the facts support, and keeps the records that would be asked for.

What a trucking engagement usually covers

How the work begins

1. 1

   Step 1: Describe how you actually work

   Who you haul for, how many carriers, who owns the unit, and how you are paid.

2. 2

   Step 2: Structure and scope agreed

   What the facts support, what the records need to show, and the fee, confirmed in writing.

3. 3

   Step 3: Kept current through the year

   Monthly books, GST on schedule, and the year end prepared without a scramble.

Can an owner operator be treated as a personal services business?

It is possible. Where a driver works through a corporation but is effectively an employee of one carrier, directed by that carrier and without the usual marks of an independent business, the CRA may treat the corporation as a personal services business. That removes the small business deduction and restricts deductions to a narrow list. The answer depends on the real working relationship rather than the wording of a contract, so it is worth reviewing before the structure is set.