The company reported 23,088 carloads during the month, which was also a new February record. The company moved 2.395 million tonnes of grain in January 2026 with 24,688 carloads — both monthly records for January.

“This is the second straight monthly Canadian grain record and it continues a strong start to 2026 as our railroaders work safely and efficiently with our supply chain collaborators to move a record grain crop across Western Canada,” said Elizabeth Hucker, CPKC vice-president of sales and marketing bulk, in the news release.

CPKC transported more than 17.1 MMT of Canadian grain and grain products through the first 30 weeks of the 2025/26 marketing year, hitting the largest totals since the record setting 2020/21 crop year.

The volume of Canadian grain and grain products moving on CPKC tracks have exceeded the average supply chain capacity targets outlined in the company’s annual grain service plan in multiple weeks in 2025/26.

CPKC said it was “critical that all supply chain participants, including customer loading facilities and terminal operators loading grain into vessels at ports, operate at full capacity to sustain this strong momentum.”

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CPKC’s revenue entitlement was just over $1.06 billion. It surpassed that by about $2.66 million. The company will be required to pay excess, plus a five per cent penalty, to the Western Grains Research Foundation.

Canadian National Railway Company (CN) did not exceed its revenue cap of about $1.46 billion. It posted a grains revenue of a bit more than $1.45 billion.

Railways’ maximum grain revenue entitlements are set based on volume-related composite price indices, which are based on historical input costs like labour, fuel and material.

Grain movement spike

Western Canadian grain movement rose by 12.1 per cent over the 2024-2025 crop year compared to the previous crop year, the transport agency said. Railways moved a bit more than 49 million tonnes compared to 43.7 million tonnes in the previous crop year.

The federal agency attributed this to an increase in shipments for both railways.

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The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan had long advocated for the removal of the surcharges, saying they affected farm profitability.

Carbon surcharges were implemented to cover costs associated with emissions and fuel consumption.

Both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City eliminated the surcharges as of April 1 in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick after the federal government ended consumer carbon pricing.

“This is massive for farmers,” said APAS president Bill Prybylski in a news release. “Axing the surcharges puts more cash where it belongs, in our pockets and back into our rural communities.”

APAS said since 2019, Saskatchewan farmers paid about $200 million in the fees. It estimated that the bill in 2025 would have been $80 million.

“We’ve fought tirelessly for relief and seeing it finally come to an end is incredibly rewarding,” Prybylski said.

The move comes at a time of incredible trade uncertainty.

A CN notice to producers said the Low Carbon Fuel Standard is still in place in British Columbia and “will remain unchanged per the tariffs issued effective April 1, 2025.”

APAS said it remains concerned about that and whether it will increase shipping costs to B.C. ports. The organization is also advocating for transparency of how the federal Output-Based Pricing System, or industrial levy, impacts farm input costs.

CN said it would follow legislation closely and re-adjust if necessary.

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The union, which represents about 1,200 workers at CPKC, said 99 per cent of its members voted to authorize a strike.

CPKC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The union, which had initiated contract negotiations with the company in October, said it is pushing for job security, fair compensation and improved working conditions at CPKC.

Unifor added it will hold talks with CPKC from Jan. 24 to Jan. 29.

—Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru

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That’s as per the Canadian Transportation Agency’s (CTA) ruling, announced on Christmas Eve in a news release.

• CN’s grain revenue of $1,213,732,435 was $34,329,653 below its entitlement of $1,248,062,088.
• CPKC’s grain revenue of $871,716,922 was $1,824,083 above its entitlement of $869,892,839.

CPKC has 30 days to pay the excess revenue, plus a five per cent penalty of $91,204, to the Western Grains Research Foundation.

The CTA determines the two railways’ annual revenue entitlement as a form of economic regulation, the CTA said.

The total amount of Western Canadian grain moved in 2023-2024 was a bit more than 43.7 million tonnes. This was down 3.5 per cent from the previous crop year, which the CTA attributed to lower crop exports for the year.

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On Saturday, the board accepted a request from the government to order more than 9,000 Teamsters members back to work at Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City and to impose binding arbitration.

The union had already said it would appeal the rulings on the grounds that they were a win for the railways and could lead to the imposition of future contracts, eroding workers’ bargaining power.

“These decisions, if left unchallenged, set a dangerous precedent where a single politician can bust a union at will,” said Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters rail union.

“The right to collectively bargain is a constitutional guarantee. Without it, unions lose leverage to negotiate better wages and safer working conditions for all Canadians,” he said in a statement. The union filed the challenges in the Federal Court of Appeal and asked that the proceedings be expedited. However Canada’s justice system is famously slow-moving and whoever loses the appeal is likely to take it to the Supreme Court, which means the case could take years to resolve.

There was no immediate reaction from either rail company or from federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon. He has already said he is confident his decision to refer the matter to the board would survive a court challenge given his broad power under Canada’s labour code.

Government officials say the challenge is separate from the board’s ruling and will not affect the return to work.

The two companies locked out the workers earlier this month after talks failed to produce a new labour deal.

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Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, also said the union would work with other labour groups as it mounts a legal challenge to a Saturday decision that halted work stoppages at the country’s two largest railways and imposed arbitration.

While the Teamsters will obey the order to return to work, the union has warned it could lead to the imposition of future contracts, eroding workers’ bargaining power. The decision comes as Air Canada pilots press for a new contract and can commence job action as early as mid-September if there is no agreement with the country’s largest carrier.

Air Canada said on Sunday its intent is to reach a negotiated settlement with the pilots over the coming weeks.

“Any federally regulated company, it’s a win for them at this point,” Boucher told Reuters in his first interview since the Thursday lockout. “This is disastrous for labour, for workers.”

The Canada Industrial Relations Board made the decision after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon asked it on Thursday to end an impasse in separate talks between the Teamsters, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

The dispute, which triggered a first-ever lockout of Teamsters workers on Thursday at both freight rail carriers, led to unprecedented disruptions that threatened to hammer Canada’s export-driven economy, leading agricultural businesses to plead for relief.

Tim Perry, president of the Air Line Pilots Association Canada, which represents Air Canada pilots, said the union is concerned.

“The new Minister of Labour does not trust the Canadian laws governing collective bargaining, nor does the government he represents respect the constitutional rights of workers,” Perry said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Canada’s labour minister declined to comment on whether the decision to impose binding arbitration on railways would serve as a precedent in other sectors, including aviation.

CN has said the company would have preferred a negotiated agreement but was satisfied that the labour stoppage is over. Spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis said on Sunday that CN tried to get an agreement for nine months and made five offers that would have improved wages and working conditions but the union did not engage. A CP spokesperson said it regretted that the government had to intervene and fundamentally believes in and respects collective bargaining.

Both railways have said they are focused on restoring service, with the Teamsters calling off a CN strike on Monday but planning to appeal the decision in federal court.

Other unions could participate in court and support the Teamsters, Boucher said.

“This historical moment is so extremely important that labour needs to get involved and they will,” he said.

The 58-year-old Boucher, who once worked as a CN locomotive engineer, has been bargaining with CN out of a second-floor conference room at a downtown Montreal hotel.

The Teamsters union disagreed with CN and CP over scheduling, shift duration and availability. CN, for example, wants employees to work up to 12-hour shifts, compared with 10 hours in the current agreement, a move opposed by the union.

Boucher said he has been in contact with the union representing more than 5,400 Air Canada pilots who approved a strike mandate last week.

“We’re going to be calling on all labour across Canada to join our fight and take this all the way,” he said.

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The independent labour tribunal made the decision after Canada asked it on Thursday to end an impasse in separate talks between more than 9,000 Teamsters members, and Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

The Teamsters said in a statement that workers’ rights were “significantly diminished” with the ruling and that it would appeal in federal court.

The board’s decisions are the latest twist in the labour disputes at CN and CPKC, which locked out Teamsters members on Thursday, triggering a simultaneous rail stoppage that business groups said could inflict hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damage.

Canadian Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said on social media site X that he expects “railway companies and employees will resume operations at the earliest opportunity.”

The decision will restart railway operations at CPKC where workers had been both locked out and on strike, by 00:01 ET (0401 GMT) on Monday, the railway said in a statement.

A Teamsters spokesperson said workers would not come back earlier, despite CPKC’s request for employees to return on Sunday.

“We anticipate it will take several weeks for the railway network to fully recover from this work stoppage and a period of time beyond that for supply chains to stabilize,” CPKC said.

The labour board’s decision averted a planned strike on Monday by locomotive engineers, conductors and other workers at Montreal-based CN just days after Canada’s largest railway ended a lockout and began restoring service. The Teamsters confirmed its CN workers would not strike on Monday after the CIRB decision.

Along with ordering an end to the stoppage, the board implemented government requests to impose binding arbitration on the parties to reach new deals and to impose a continuation of the existing contracts until new agreements are reached.

“This decision by the CIRB sets a dangerous precedent,” said Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. “It signals to corporate Canada that large companies need only stop their operations for a few hours, inflict short-term economic pain, and the federal government will step in to break a union.”

A CN spokesperson said the company would have preferred a negotiated agreement, but “we are satisfied that this puts an end to the labour stoppage.”

The disruption could have drastically affected farmers and agriculture companies in both Canada and the United States.

Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association, which represents grain companies, said they had urged the government for weeks to refer the matter to the CIRB.

“It means that the government has really listened to what Canadians were telling them,” he said. “We can’t take a self-inflicted wound on the economy.”

Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the U.S. Soy Transportation Coalition said the Canadian government had to intervene to help farmers who rely on seamless cross-border trade.

“We have not taken a side between railroads and railroad workers,” Steenhoek said. “However, we are on the side of the American farmer.”

On Thursday, MacKinnon, said his decision to refer the matter to the CIRB would survive a court challenge given his broad power under the country’s labour code.

The Teamsters union wants its members’ working conditions and pay to be determined by bargaining, despite disputes with CN and CP over scheduling, shift duration and availability. CN, for example, wants employees to work up to 12-hour shifts, compared with 10 hours in the current agreement, a move opposed by the union.

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At risk are more than 20 bulk cargo ships at or bound for British Columbia ports as in-port grain stocks represent just a fraction of what is scheduled to load over the coming weeks, according to shipping industry and government data.

Exporters in the world’s top canola producer and No. 3 wheat shipper could rack up vessel demurrage penalties totaling tens of thousands of dollars a day if ships sit idle waiting for supplies, analysts said.

Although workers at Canadian National Railway returned to work on Friday, their union said they will strike on Monday and challenge the constitutionality of the government’s move to end the shutdown. Canadian Pacific Kansas City has yet to lift its lockout.

Thursday’s stoppage marked the first time both railroads had shut down simultaneously.

“The rail situation in Canada remains very fluid and uncertain,” Mike Steenhoek, executive director at the U.S.-based Soy Transportation Coalition said in a statement.

Rail delays threaten the flow of grain from Canada’s prairies to export terminals just as farmers begin to harvest their crops.

If disruptions persist, sales booked for loading in the autumn are also at risk of being canceled.

“(Exporters) could try to declare force majeure and go into arbitration … or they can rack up the demurrage charges,” said independent analyst Wayne Palmer.

There were 20 bulk vessels anchored near or en route to Port of Vancouver as of Aug. 19, earmarked for loading with 638,900 metric tons of canola and 428,200 tons of milling wheat, according to vessel lineup data seen by Reuters.

Most of the canola was due to be shipped to China, while the wheat was slated for various destinations in Asia, South America and Africa, the data showed.

However, the commitments far exceeded commercial stocks in Vancouver of 217,500 tons of canola and 216,100 tons of wheat as of Aug. 11, according to the latest data available from Statistics Canada.

Vessel-lineup data identified another two vessels bound for Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to be loaded with 134,200 tons of wheat. Wheat stocks there were just 11,900 tons, StatsCan data showed.

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The Teamsters union filed notice that conductors, locomotive engineers and other workers at Montreal-based CN would strike on Monday, just days after returning to work on Friday.

A Canadian government official had no immediate comment.

A CN spokesperson said trains were starting to run and the company’s plan to resume operations was under way.

“We are focused on getting back to work,” said Jonathan Abecassis, CN’s spokesperson. “The Teamsters are focused on getting back to the picket line.”

The looming strike is the latest twist in a labor dispute at Canada’s top two railroads, which locked out more than 9,000 unionized workers on Thursday, triggering a simultaneous rail stoppage that business groups said could inflict hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damage.

A lockout at rival Canadian Pacific Kansas City has yet to be officially lifted after the Canadian government moved on Thursday to end the rail stoppage, which for the first time involved both railways simultaneously.

The dispute led Canada’s Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to issue a back-to-work order. Union and railroad officials met with the CIRB, an independent body, on Friday morning, the Teamsters said on social media site X.

Teamsters spokesperson Chris Monette said by phone earlier in the day that the union would challenge the constitutionality of the minister’s referral, without giving details.

Monette said CN workers would return to work on Friday, although the union had not received any back-to-work protocol from the railway.

“The return to work will be chaotic this morning,” he said.

Monette said members from CPKC would not be back at work as the railway had not yet ended its lockout.

CPKC said late on Thursday that it was preparing to restart operations in Canada and that further details on timing would be provided once it received the CIRB’s order.

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