Reading Time: 2 minutes Health officials in Vancouver have closed a federally inspected poultry plant in that city after confirming an outbreak of COVID-19 so far affecting over two dozen employees. The public health arm of Vancouver Coastal Health, the regional health authority for the greater Vancouver area, on Tuesday declared a COVID-19 outbreak among staff at United Poultry […] Read more

Vancouver health officials shut poultry processor
COVID-19 hits at least 28 employees

Protestors put up new rail, road barricades in wake of arrests
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa/Toronto | Reuters — Protesters in Canada blocked train lines, Vancouver’s port entrance and at least one highway on Tuesday in response to the arrest of 10 indigenous activists when police dismantled a rail barricade in southern Ontario a day earlier. Ontario Provincial Police on Monday arrested some of the Tyendinaga Mohawk campaigners who had […] Read more

Grain vessels backing up at West Coast
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Vessels waiting to ship grain off Canada’s West Coast are backing up as blockades across the country slow rail traffic, according to reports tracking grain movement. Railway blockades have sprung up at a number of locations across the country over the past two weeks, as protestors express solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing […] Read more

Update: Vancouver lockout of longshoremen ends
Reading Time: < 1 minute Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — A lockout of longshore workers at Canada’s biggest port, the Port of Vancouver, ended in a deal on Thursday after a few hours, averting a potentially massive shipping disruption, the workers’ union and employers association said. The lockout was immediately lifted and the union also withdrew its strike notice, according to […] Read more

Rail now moving fluidly through Vancouver, CN says
Reading Time: < 1 minute Winnipeg | Reuters — Congestion at Port Metro Vancouver, Canada’s busiest port, has been resolved and rail operations are now “fluid,” Canadian National Railway said Friday. Canadian National and rival Canadian Pacific Railway were rationing space on trains travelling in the Vancouver area and prioritized some commodities over others to deal with congestion, causing complaints […] Read more

Railways ration space as commodity congestion problems worsen
Reading Time: 3 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s two major railways are rationing space on trains traveling to the country’s biggest port and recently prioritized some commodities over others to deal with congestion, the latest indication of their struggle to meet demand from new trade deals. That move prompted Canada’s transport regulator last week to start an investigation […] Read more

Canadian canola demand off year-ago pace
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Canadian canola exports and domestic usage are both falling behind the year-ago pace, according to the latest Canadian Grain Commission data. Canada exported only 63,700 tonnes of canola during the week ended Jan. 6, according to the report. That compares with the average weekly movement during the crop-year-to-date of about 200,000 tonnes. […] Read more

No big problems seen in grain transportation so far
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — It’s so far, so good with grain shipments to the three major Canadian ports according, to a spokesperson with Quorum Corporation, which compiles weekly performance updates on Canada’s grain handling sector. The spokesperson said there not have been any big problems recently, only a few sporadic instances in rail shipments. There has […] Read more

Port authority clears new West Coast terminal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Work is expected to start within two weeks on a new port grain terminal expected to improve rail efficiency for grain shipments to Canada’s West Coast. Prairie grain handler Parrish and Heimbecker announced Thursday it’s “moving forward” with the Fraser Grain Terminal project as proposed in late 2016, after receiving approval for its project permit […] Read more

Grain vessel lineup rising at Vancouver
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — The lineup of grain vessels waiting for loading at Vancouver increased to 21 for Week 8 of the grain shipping season. Reports by Quorum Corp., which monitors Prairie grain handling, stated vessels at Vancouver were up 31 per cent from the previous week (17). The increase in ships raised sentiments that grain […] Read more