Rail conductors, port workers, government staff, and even grocery store employees either are in the midst of a strike or have been on strike, sometimes more than once, in the last few years. Work stoppages are on the rise in several industries, but there’s more friction than just between employee and employer: disagreements and rifts… Read More

Both of Canada’s major railways — Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) — have published their annual grain transportation plans, coinciding with the start of 2023-24 crop year on August 1. Federal legislation that was implemented after the grain backlog that occurred ten years ago this fall requires the railways to submit… Read More

Port workers in B.C. who have been on strike for the past 13 days will be returning to work, after the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada agreed to a proposal from federal mediators on Thursday. The two sides have reached a tentative four-year agreement and are finalizing… Read More

While bulk grain shipments are continuing to flow, fertilizer exports from the West Coast have been interrupted by the ongoing port worker strike. Over 7,000 port workers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have been on strike since Saturday, Fertilizer Canada has joined other industry and business organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce,… Read More

Richardson International has announced plans to upgrade eight elevators located on Canadian Pacific Kansas City rail lines in Western Canada. The work will allow these sites to load longer trains under CPKC’s 8,500-foot high efficiency product (HEP) model. The company says construction is set to begin at Richardson Pioneer locations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba… Read More

Trade between countries is so much more than railways and ports, but if it can’t move, it can’t be sold. Canada is an export nation, but currently ranks just ahead of Azerbaijan according to the World Economic Forum’s rankings on infrastructure, transport infrastructure and trade infrastructure, says Carlo Dade, vice-president of Canada West Foundation. A… Read More

American grain giant Bunge and Viterra, owned by Switzerland’s Glencore, are reportedly in talks to become one super grain company. In a reversal of a few years ago, this time it appears it is Bunge setting out to take on Viterra to create a company that would have extensive assets in nearly every grain type… Read More

Last year, spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food set out to better understand the impact of international volatility on grain and other commodity markets and the possible need for global aid. Following that process, the Committee then decided to look further in to global food insecurity, by starting… Read More