A record volume of intermodal traffic — mainly containers — also buoyed freight volumes.

Canadian railways moved 376.6 million tonnes of freight in 2025, down 0.2 per cent from 2024.

”A bumper 2025 harvest and strong global demand meant that grain shipments by rail remained strong throughout the year,” StatCan said.

• Carloadings of wheat increased by double digits, year-over-year each month from January to November, except for February.
• Annual carloadings of wheat rose by 14.3 per cent or 3.9 million tonnes to reach 31.1 million tonnes in 2025.
• Other cereal grains loadings also saw substantial growth in January — up 103.9 per cent — and September — up 72.7 per cent.
• Total loadings of cereals grew by 23.4 per cent to 7.8 million tonnes in 2025 — the largest increase since 2018.
• Carloadings of canola fell by 12.4 per cent to 8.8 million tonnes in 2025. StatCan attributed this to trade tensions with China.
• Freight loadings from U.S. rail connections saw significant double-digit year-over-year decreases for much of 2025.
• Annual tonnage fell by 13.3 per cent compared to 2024 at 39.3 million tonnes. That’s the lowest annual level since 2020.
• In 2023 and 2024, freight traffic from U.S. rail connections to Canada represented an average of 12 per cent of total rail tonnage per month. In 2025, the average share ranged by quarter between 10.0 per cent and 10.7 per cent.
• Loadings of fuel oils, crude petroleum and lumber fell sharply over the year. Coal shipments rose.

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StatCan published its major grain deliveries report for August 2025 on Sept. 25. In total, 3.588 million tonnes were delivered compared to 4.329 million in August 2024. The agency noted that tariffs placed on Canadian goods headed to the United States may have an impact on deliveries.

All wheat deliveries in August totaled 2.259 million tonnes compared to 2.321 million one year earlier. For durum, 279,584 tonnes were delivered last month, up from 244,560 tonnes in August 2024.

Canola deliveries fell below one million tonnes for the first time since August 2023, dropping to their lowest monthly total since May 2022. StatCan reported 621,555 tonnes of the oilseed were delivered in August, compared to 1.32 million tonnes in August of last year.

August barley deliveries were 379,238 tonnes, slightly more than the 375,071 tonnes delivered in August 2024. For oats, 278,097 tonnes were delivered, up from 267,271 tonnes one year earlier. Rye deliveries were up from 29,375 tonnes in August 2024 to 38,098 last month. Flaxseed deliveries were down from 15,127 tonnes in August 2024 to 11,953 tonnes a year later.

Saskatchewan provided 36.6 per cent of all deliveries, followed by Manitoba with 22.2 per cent and Alberta at 20.4 per cent.

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Premiers Doug Ford and Danielle Smith signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) Monday in Calgary. The agreements are mostly focused on the exchange of energy and minerals, though they could also open new trade routes between Western and Eastern Canada.

Why it matters: U.S. tariffs and interprovincial trade barriers remain among the biggest barriers for trade stability and profitability in agriculture.

The agreements will “open new markets and create thousands of new jobs across Canada” and diversify trading partners, Ford said.

Smith said the MOUs are meant to advance pipelines and pathways for exports of energy and critical minerals to markets across Canada and the world.

“Through this agreement, we’ll work together to explore ways to improve network corridors that better connect our energy and critical minerals to markets here at home as well as around the globe.”

Smith said Alberta is seeking to add more rail lines to increase access to Ontario in areas like the Ring of Fire, refineries in southern ontario and a deep-water port in James Bay.

“Let’s get some icebreakers in there, maybe build out some additional rail and road infrastructure, and it could be a multi-purpose port, not just for oil … but also food, fibres, manufactured goods, critical minerals,” she said.

She said this would allow shipping not only to Canada’s East Coast but also to trade partners in Europe.

“Let’s work on that. And maybe I’ll sign another MOU with my friend Francois Legault (Premier of Quebec) at some later point to see if we can get further east.”

Ford said the MOUs between the two provinces are critical at a time when U.S. tariffs are still threatening trade in Canada.

“President Trump’s tariffs and the economic uncertainty they’ve created, they’re hurting workers and businesses in every part of our great country,” he said. “Steel makers and aluminum workers in Ontario and Quebec, fishermen and women in B.C. and Atlantic Canada, farmers across the Prairies, including right here in Alberta.”

“We’re doing this because we need to unlock the full potential of our economy. We need to tear down the barriers and red tape that have held us back for far, far too long,” he added. “This is how we make ourselves less reliant on the United States. This is how we secure the future of Canada.”

The two provinces will also launch a joint feasibility study to determine the best strategies, financing and endpoints for these projects.

Monday’s signings come as Ontario has made efforts to reduce trade barriers with other provinces, including last month’s agreement with Saskatchewan.

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ADM has declared force majeure in southern Louisiana, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Force majeure declarations are intended to suspend a company’s contractual liabilities for supply outages in the wake of disasters that lie beyond its control.

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Farmers have repeatedly blocked Poland’s eastern border over the past year in protest against food imports such as grain from the east, including from Ukraine.

Tusk told reporters in the Baltic Sea port of Gdansk, in the north of Poland, that the new terminal there will be at the disposal of the Polish state.

“It will not only perform commercial functions, but will be a safety device in the hands of the Polish state as part of protecting Polish interests and Polish farmers,” Tusk said.

Poland’s Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Arkadiusz Marchewka said that the entire investment would cost 500 million zloty (US$122.4 million).

The terminal’s trans-shipment capacity in 2026 will be and initial two million tonnes, which will then be increased to three million tonnes, Marchewka added.

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12:01 AM EDT on August 22, after negotiations that began last year failed to bring about a resolution to the dispute, CN and CPKC announced at that they would lockout their employees who are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). The move affects roughly 9,000 employees at the two companies.

“Throughout this process, CN and CPKC have shown themselves willing to compromise rail safety and tear families apart to earn an extra buck,” said Paul Boucher, President, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, in a release issued shortly after the lockout was announced.

In its announcement of the lockout, CN said that they had been committed to avoid the work stoppage right up to the deadline and that the union did not respond to a last-minute offer by the railway to bridge the gap.

“This offer improved wages and would have seen employees work less days in a month by aligning hours of service in the collective agreement with federally mandated rest provisions,” read the announcement released shortly after midnight. “Without an agreement or binding arbitration, CN had no choice but to finalize a safe and orderly shutdown and proceed with a lockout.”

For their part, CPKC said they had bargained in good faith in the months since the TCRC contract expired late last year, but a negotiated outcome appeared out of reach.

“The TCRC leadership continues to make unrealistic demands that would fundamentally impair the railway’s ability to serve our customers with a reliable and cost-competitive transportation service,” read the announcement.

The CPCK release went on to say the only way forward is for the parties to engage in binding arbitration.

Both railways had previously requested binding arbitration. Most recently, CN made a formal request to Minister of Labour Steven MacKinnon on August 9, but the government rejected the request a few days later.

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At 12:01 AM EDT on August 22, after negotiations that began last year failed to bring about a resolution to the dispute, CN and CPKC announced at that they would lockout their employees who are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). The move affects roughly 9,000 employees at the two companies.

Federal mediators have been working with the companies and the union, but those involved in the discussion said little progress was made. The union says CN Rail and CPKC want to dilute safety provisions, a charge the companies deny. The railroads have accused the union of unrealistic demands, and have said binding arbitration is the only way forward.

Meanwhile, farmers expect to take a hit from the lockout.

“The impact on Canadians of a full-country railway work stoppage, both CN and CP at the same time for all industries, is mammoth; it can’t be overstated,” said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevators Association (WGEA), one of the agricultural groups that has signed on to the Stop the Strike letter writing campaign initiated by Pulse Canada.

From a grain shipping perspective, Sobkowich said there are several factors that will affect farmers directly.

To get the best price, grain shipping companies try to move as much grain as possible before the Australian harvest comes off in January and February, when global prices tend to drop. If that window is shortened, it will mean farmers will get paid less for their grain.

A lengthy strike could also mean cash-flow headaches for producers.

“Farmers don’t get paid until they deliver,” said Sobkowich. “So that’s a significant impact.”

Sobokwich said there are other less quantifiable effects a strike would have, like reputational damage.

“When you talk to your buyer in Indonesia and you say you’re not going to be able to deliver, that buyer is a mill, and they want to keep their mill humming along, so they’re going to try and source product from another country,” said Sobkowich.

The question of reputational damage was recently addressed at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Saskatoon on August 20. At the foreign trade committee meeting, Nathan Phinney, Canadian Cattle Association president, brought up the question.

In response, the chief trade negotiator for Agriculture and Agrifood Canada (AAFC) said that at times when the supply chain is compromised, like the flooding in 2022 that caused delays, he definitely gets questions about whether shipments will be affected, but he hasn’t received any calls about this pending strike.

However, during a press conference set up by the Stop the Strike campaign, Dean Roberts, vice chair, Canola Council of Canada, brought up a letter signed by 35 US industry groups sent to the Prime Minister’s office on August 20 as a sign that Canada’s trading partners are in fact taking notice.

“They’re concerned about the integrated supply chains between our two countries and how exposed agriculture is to this disruption,” said Roberts.

Since the Stop the Strike campaign was launched, agricultural groups from across Canada have added their weight to the campaign. Independently, senators, municipal groups, and industry groups have joined in the chorus, urging the government to intervene and ensure a speedy end to the dispute.

Sobkowich said he’s hopeful that the efforts of these groups will have the desired impact, but added that there are a lot of issues and agendas at play.

“We saw the federal government impose binding arbitration regarding the WestJet strike, and so we’re hopeful that they will do the same thing in this situation,” he said.

However, Sobkowich noted that there is a difference between the two events in terms of optics. During the WestJet strike, Canadians were stranded at airports. The effect was immediate. But with this labour dispute, the effects will begin to show up later.

“They will see increased prices, a lack of product availability, and that sort of thing, but it’s somewhat masked because of the way goods are transacted throughout the supply chain,” he said.

But last week, in a letter to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), the union representing employees of the railways, Minister MacKinnon said that he would not intervene.

“I trust that with continued effort, an agreement can be achieved promptly,” wrote MacKinnon in the letter that was posted to the Teamsters’ website. “The government firmly believes in the collective bargaining process and trusts that mutually beneficial agreements are within reach at the bargaining table.”

—Updated Aug. 22. Updates current lockout scenario.

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In a release Aug. 20, Fertilizer Canada called for federal intervention on the potential work stoppage on Canada’s two major railways. The industry group would like to see binding arbitration that would stop both strike action on the part of the union and lockout action on the part from the railways from going forward.

“We can no longer patiently wait for a resolution,” Fertilizer Canada CEO Karen Proud said. “The federal government must protect Canada’s economy and food security by ordering binding arbitration.”

The labour dispute between the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union and both Canadian Pacific Kansas City and the Canadian National Railway threatens to explode this week. Both railways have issued lockout notices starting Aug. 22. On Aug. 18, the teamsters union issued its strike notice to CPKC, also starting Aug. 22.

“Each and all of the TCRC’s demands remain outstanding at this point in time,” the union said in an online statement published Aug. 18.

Fertilizer Canada estimates that a work stoppage would cost their sector $55-63 million in lost sales a day, “not including logistical and operational costs.”

“In the last seven years, Canadian supply chain labour disruptions have cost the fertilizer industry nearly a billion dollars,” Proud said. “These stoppages are doing immense damage to our reputation as a reliable trading partner. Our customers, who rely on Canadian fertilizer products, are being forced to turn to our competitors in Russia, Belarus, and China. We can’t afford for our railways to shut down, and we can’t afford a passive approach to our supply chains any longer. We need long-term solutions.”

The impact has already been felt, the industry group said. Last week, railways announced that shipment of certain more volatile materials, which included some ammonia products, were being curtailed in anticipation of a potential stoppage. Fertilizer Canada estimates that about 75 per cent of fertilizer in Canada is transported via rail.

Numerous provincial and national farm organizations have called on their members and other members of the public to sign a letter to Canadian Labour and Seniors Minister Steven MacKinnon. The #StopTheStrike campaign also urges the government to invoke binding arbitration under section 107 of the Canadian Labour Code.

“This will provide needed certainty to Canadian farmers and shippers, and their customers around the world,” the letter reads, in part.

The three provincial organizations representing rural municipal governments in the Prairie provinces have launched similar concerns and calls for action.

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Spring road restrictions set axle weight limits for vehicles moving on certain roads to reduce the damage heavier loads can cause during the spring thaw period. Grain and equipment movement can both be affected by the spring road bans, as drivers may need to find alternate routes or haul smaller loads.

The duration of the restrictions will depend on the local weather conditions, but typically start up in early March and last through April and into May.

Winter weight allowances are still in effect across Western Canada, but road restrictions in most southern agricultural regions of Manitoba could begin as early as March 1. Saskatchewan and Alberta will also impose their restrictions soon, depending on the weather, with start dates over the past few years ranging from early to late March.

The transportation departments of all three provinces provide updated details on road restrictions.

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Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced Tuesday that his department will review the deal under the mergers and acquisitions provisions of the Canada Transportation Act, starting with a “public interest assessment” which can run up to 250 days — that is, until June 2, 2024 at the latest.

The deal is “of significant national interest in Canada’s transportation sector and the broader supply chain,” he said, as both companies hold ownership interests in port terminals across the country.

“Healthy competition in the transportation sector is necessary to ensure fair pricing and access for users, especially for Canadian farmers,” he said.

The public interest assessment, he said, will include consultations with Canada’s ports and marine industry as well as other industry stakeholders, government departments and other levels of government, as well as Canadians generally.

Such an assessment is required under the Transportation Act, which says the minister must assess whether a proposed transaction involving a “federal transportation undertaking” raises issues of the public interest in national transportation.

The public interest, from the Act’s perspective, is “a broad concept” and individual transactions may raise different public interest issues or concerns, depending on each deal’s “unique facts and context.”

If, during the minister’s assessment, the deal is shown to raise public interest issues, the Canadian Transportation Agency or any other appointed person can then be tasked with further examining those specific issues.

Bunge’s assets in Canada include oilseed crushing operations and part-ownership, with a Saudi state-owned grain firm, in Prairie grain handler G3.

G3, created in 2015 with the assets of the privatized Canadian Wheat Board, today has port grain terminals at Vancouver, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Trois-Rivieres and Quebec City as well as a network of 19 Prairie grain elevators.

Viterra, meanwhile, has its Cascadia and Pacific terminals at Vancouver plus terminals at Prince Rupert and Montreal and two at Thunder Bay plus a substantial grain elevator network.

Transport Canada’s review is independent of a review by the federal Competition Bureau, which in June said it will also review the deal. That review also has yet to be completed.

According to Transport Canada’s review guidelines, potential impacts on prices and access to services and facilities are “of prime interest” in any deal that involves a transport undertaking.

“In fully competitive markets these issues will be of lesser concern,” the department says, while “in markets characterized by less competition, such impacts may take on a higher level of significance.”

Other impacts to be considered in such a review could include the “financial viability of the entity resulting from the merger or acquisition” as well as “whether a transaction may adversely affect one or more transportation sectors.”

For its part, Bunge last month announced it has scheduled an “extraordinary general meeting” of its shareholders, to be held virtually on Oct. 5, to approve the acquisition of Viterra.

Bunge said in June it expects to close the merger of the two firms by mid-2024, pending approvals from regulators in countries where the companies operate, and approval from Bunge shareholders.

Separately, the Oct. 5 meeting will seek approval to move Bunge’s “place of incorporation and residence of the ultimate parent company,” to Switzerland from Bermuda. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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