Canada Rail Strike Halted by Government-Mandated Arbitration

A rail strike that brought operations to a halt at two of Canada’s major railroads—Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Canadian National (CN)—was swiftly curtailed by the federal government, which intervened to force the parties into binding arbitration. The strike, initiated by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) early Thursday morning, was short-lived as the government invoked its authority under the Canada Labour Code to mandate a return to negotiations.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced on Thursday that the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has been directed to assist in resolving the outstanding contract terms between the union and the railroads through final binding arbitration. This measure, authorized under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, was used as a last resort after the parties failed to reach an agreement.

The strike, which began at 12:01 am ET on Thursday, had led to a complete shutdown of operations at CPKC and CN. However, with the imposition of arbitration, operations at both railroads are expected to resume during the arbitration process.