MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA — With expected growth in Canada’s grain production, Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) have published their government-required plans for the upcoming crop year, which runs from Aug. 1, 2024, to July 31, 2025.
CN’s plan highlighted the delivery of 750 new high-efficiency grain hopper cars this crop year; a continued focus on scheduled railroading; deployment of new firefighting equipment to help protect the supply chain; and the use of new safety technologies.
CN said it remains concerned about federal labor regulations impacting the labor pool, extended interswitching, and continued rain delays in loading grain vessels at the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia.
“We are confident that we have the right approach and resources in place to move this year’s Canadian grain crop efficiently,” said Tracy Robinson, president and chief executive officer at CN. “We continue to lean into our scheduled railroading model and making sure that our ongoing capital investments position us for success again this year. Working with supply chain stakeholders and governments, we are taking steps to address several regulatory issues impacting the sector, to remove obstacles so we can focus our attention on continuing to deliver even better service to our customers.”
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is projecting a Canada-wide grain crop of 94.4 million tonnes, with about 71 million tonnes for Western Canada. Two of the last three crop years saw relatively low grain transportation demand, CPKC noted.
Based on current forecasts, CPKC’s plan expects a return to more typical demand for grain transportation this crop year and said it is well-positioned to provide it. CPKC said about 25% of its available rail capacity went unused during the previous crop year.
“CPKC is dedicated to, and excels at, safely transporting Canadian agricultural products for export to global markets,” said Keith Creel, president and chief executive officer of CPKC. “Safely moving Canada’s grain has been part of our DNA since 1881, and it remains a key part of our franchise today.”
Both railroads’ grain plans also noted ongoing labor negotiations and the impact of a potential strike in mid-August by members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents engineers, conductors, and rail traffic controllers in Canada.
