Rail strike would affect more than 32,000 commuters in Canada’s three biggest cities

MONTREAL – More than 32,000 rail commuters across the country will have to find new routes to work if there is a work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. this week.
Transit authorities say select commuter lines that run on CPKC tracks in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will be suspended if dispatchers walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday alongside 3,200 other workers.
The railway has said it will lock out employees unless a new contract is reached or the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) agrees to binding arbitration — a path the union has rejected. The Teamsters have also issued a 72-hour strike notice, which would kick in at the same time.
All sides said this week they remain far apart, with wages and scheduling as key stumbling blocks.
Christopher Monette, the media spokesperson for TCRC told the Star that the union is asking for “concessions around scheduling, rest and fatigue management, which all have impacts on rail safety.”
Monette called fatigue a major issue in the rail industry and said that while they’ve made “a lot of progress” over the years, both companies have now told the union that they are struggling with labour shortages which they want to solve by extracting more work from the train crews.
“You don’t solve the staffing problem by compromising on safety or by trying to squeeze your people working,” Monette added. “The solution is to build up a more humane rail industry and to work to improve, rather than rollback those working conditions.”
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon planned to meet with CN and union representatives in Montreal on Tuesday, and with CPKC and the Teamsters in Calgary on Wednesday.
MacKinnon, who stepped into the minister’s role barely four weeks ago, has repeatedly stressed that the parties must hammer out a deal themselves rather than rely on federal intervention, such as back-to-work legislation.
On Monday, in a statement posted on X, MacKinnon said, “CN Rail, CPKC and Teamsters must do the hard work necessary to reach agreements at the bargaining table and prevent a full work stoppage.”
“We continue to work with federal mediators who have been helpful since the beginning of this process,” Monette added.
The Teamsters represent some 80 CPKC rail traffic controllers negotiating for a contract — distinct from the company’s main group of engineers, conductors and yard workers.
A shutdown by 9,300 employees at CN and CPKC would be unprecedented, marking the first-ever simultaneous work stoppage at the country’s biggest rail companies, experts say. Their trains haul a combined $1 billion worth of goods per day, from canola to consumer electronics, according to the Railway Association of Canada.
A phased shutdown of the networks at both CPKC and Canadian National Railway Co. is already underway as the clock ticks down on negotiations between both companies and the union. Canadian Pacific barred virtually all new shipments on Tuesday morning, with CN planning to do the same Wednesday to avoid leaving any goods stranded on the tracks.
The commuter lines affected by the potential work stoppage are TransLink’s West Coast Express in the Vancouver area, Metrolinx’s Milton line and the Lakeshore line’s Hamilton GO station in the Greater Toronto Area, and Exo’s Candiac, Saint-Jérôme and Vaudreuil/Hudson lines in the Montreal area.
Metrolinx confirmed that all other GO lines, the UP Express and Lakeshore West line stations would not be affected.
TransLink says it will provide customer updates as the situation unfolds. Metrolinx is pointing Toronto-area riders to alternate routes and stations, while Exo said it is working on alternative bus services into Montreal.
Metrolinx spokesperson Andrea Ernesaks said that Hamilton GO customers can access services at West Harbour GO, Aldershot GO or use normally scheduled GO bus service on Route 16.
Ernesaks said that customers on the Milton corridor should consider local transit options or access the GO trains on the Lakeshore West or Kitchener corridors.
If a tentative deal isn’t reached, some Via Rail passengers will also be affected.
Canadian Pacific owns two sections of track in Ontario where Via trains run, including a nearly 480-kilometre stretch between Sudbury and White River. The train, which runs three times a week, would be cancelled “without alternative transportation” until the labour dispute ends, said Via spokeswoman Jamie Orchard.
“Impacted customers on this route will be contacted directly if the work stoppage is confirmed. They will also be able to autonomously modify their reservation or opt for a full refund at no cost on viarail.ca,” she said in an email.
The Crown corporation is also working with CPKC to maintain access to a one-kilometre section in Smiths Falls, Ont., that its cars traverse on multiple daily trips between Toronto and Ottawa, Orchard said.
With files from Tara Deschamps in Toronto and Abhiraj Lamba