Submitted by the Ag Transport Coalition As the world grapples with geopolitical challenges and global economic volatility, Canada’s agricultural sector remains one of the country’s key economic pillars. However, this sector is increasingly facing a grave threat—not only from external factors—but from within our own supply chain infrastructure: the chronic and worsening rail service failures… Read More
Category: Logistics
The cattle market is well known for its ebbs and flows with the availability of grass, and the lamb market follows a similar pattern, though to a lesser extent. The impact of drought on the lamb market is just one thing that Angus Gidley-Baird, animal protein analyst for Rabobank out of Australia, and RealAgriculture’s Lyndsey… Read More
A pilot program aimed at bringing more competition to Canada’s rail system is among the casualties of outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to prorogue Parliament. The federal government announced an 18-month trial for extended interswitching in the 2023 federal budget, and the clock started ticking on the program in September 2023. Interswitching allows a… Read More
Unifor, the union representing approximately 3,300 employees at CN in Canada, and CN Rail have announced a tentative, four-year collective agreement. Unifor members provide mechanical, clerical, and intermodal functions for the railway. No details of the tentative agreement will be released publicly until the agreement is ratified. The current collective agreement with Unifor expires on… Read More
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) has announced it will spend $350 million in infrastructure upgrades over the next three years. These infrastructure upgrades position the Seaway to meet future demands, ensuring resilient supply chains, says the SLSMC. The St. Lawrence Seaway enables ships to sail from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean, creating… Read More
AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. has announced the sale of all shares of its shortline rail and bulk handling infrastructure in Mobil Grain Ltd. to GCM Grosvenor, a global alternative asset management firm. The sale includes MobilGrain and its operating subsidiaries: Last Mountain Rail, with 140 kms (87 miles) running from the Regina Plains to… Read More
The Canadian government is imposing binding arbitration to end work stoppages that have dragged on at ports in British Columbia and Montreal. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced Tuesday morning that he is directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the resumption of all operations at the ports, and to assist in imposing final and… Read More
Canada’s largest port, the Port of Vancouver, is at a standstill this week, as labour negotiations between the B.C. Maritime Employers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 broke down and resulted in a lockout and strike on Monday. This is not the first time this port has been impacted by labour… Read More
The B.C. Maritime Employers Association served its employees with a lockout notice, effective November 5th, 8 am Pacific, after the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 served its own 72-hour strike notice late last week. The last contract between the employers and union members expired in March 2023. The strike/lockout includes 700 foremen based… Read More
Over six hundred workers at the six main grain export terminals in Vancouver are returning to work as of Saturday, September 28. Their four day strike, which nearly halted grain shipments through Western Canada’s largest port, came to an end late Friday, as the Grain Workers Union Local 333 agreed to a tentative four-year deal… Read More