Canada Rail Update

The Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railways issued a formal lockout and strike warning on Sunday that will both commence Thursday at 12:01 am. In an effort to maintain an orderly shutdown, the railroads have begun embargoing shipments. CPKC has embargoed all shipments originating in Canada, all US originated shipments to Canada and all carload traffic bound for the Canadian interchange. Vessels headed to the Port of Vancouver were advised to slow down, delaying expected arrival, to prevent congestion. While these measures have been taken to try and mitigate the impact, we expect the impact to be severe and immediate. The recovery time will be immense if the strike only lasts a few days thus a longer strike would lead to recovery time potentially lasting month. This situation is unprecedented as usually only one railway goes on strike, not both.

Even though the Canada’s labor affiliated New Democratic Party opposes federal intervention, Canada’s Labor Minister Steve MacKinnon is meeting with representatives of the railways, the teamsters, and federal mediators to push the sides to reach a new agreement. The railways are standing firm in their negotiations and the impact of the strike could lead to the Government stepping in to push a deal.

WSSA will continue to monitor this situation. Please contact us if you should need to use alternative routes to try and avoid the impacts of the looming shutdown.