^^^ if he has class 1 experience and references to back that up then I would think he would get into a company without much issue, I did my class 1 again over here in December and by the end of January/early February, the company I got in with had me running up and down the ice roads in the NWT (although I probably shouldn’t have been right away) and luckily got through that without any problems apart from a touch of frostbite which was a very real personality learning experience 
Company can’t get enough drivers at the moment to haul fuel, I guess the fuel market went through the roof after the Rona hit, although some of that is probably getting back the drivers they laid off when lockdowns hit.
I was lucky enough to get my class 1 before the whole MELT program came in but I would imagine the cost of doing it will be claimable on taxes the following year as I was able to claim the cost of my class 1 training when I did mine!
I hope things go well though OP when you do get over here and hopefully you can get your training and into work quickly!