Reading Time: 2 minutes The Western Grains Research Foundation will get a $4.98 million gift this season from Canadian National Railway, but not out of holiday spirit per se. The Canadian Transportation Agency on Thursday ruled CN, during the 2013-14 crop year, exceeded its maximum allowable revenue from Prairie grain handling by $4,981,915, above its previously set “entitlement” of […] Read more
CN overshoots 2013-14 grain handling revenue cap
Grain freight minimums beneficial, but not seen as best solution
Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada –– The Canadian government’s decision to extend its order-in-council requiring a minimum tonnage of grain shipped by the two major railways each week will benefit the ag industry — but it’s not the best solution out there, according to some participants. “Extending the minimum volume requirements through the coming winter and spring season […] Read more
Mandatory minimum grain handle extended
Reading Time: 2 minutes A new order-in-council will extend the federal government’s mandatory minimum weekly grain handle for Canada’s big two railways through March, just as the previous order expires. Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Saturday announced the mandatory minimums, which expired Saturday, are extended until March 28, 2015. The new order, however, adjusts the […] Read more
Shortlines shortchanged in Western Canada
Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada — Western Canada’s shortline railways are getting the short end of the stick as they struggle to meet their own commitments moving grain and other products along their tracks. A backlog of grain on the Prairies over the past winter, linked in part to poor rail movement, prompted the federal government to implement […] Read more
The Canadian-made bottleneck
The West’s grain paralysis was predictable. Canada has a Third World grain infrastructure, and it’s getting worse
Reading Time: 7 minutes From the headlines, it can feel like Canada’s grain transportation woes have suddenly got worse. In fact, they’ve been looming for decades, or even longer. Nor have its inadequacies come as any surprise to people in the know. For instance, in their paper “Grain Transportation in Canada — Deregulation,” transportation experts Joseph Monteiro and Gerald […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
