Canada’s two largest grain companies have been fined for failing to meet weekly grain movement targets established by the federal government in 2014.
Officials with Transport Canada confirmed today that Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway have been fined for failing to move enough grain in Western Canada.
Last year, between April and November, both CN and CP were required to move approximately 536,000 tonnes of western Canadian grain per week or face fines as high as $100,000 per week for non-compliance.
CN failed to meet the weekly targets on two occasions — once during the last week of July and again during the second week of September.
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CP’s only infraction occurred between Sept. 7 and Sept. 13.
Transport Canada said the railways will be fined $50,000 per infraction, well below the maximum enforceable penalty of $100,000 per infraction.
Both railway companies have been notified of the violations but as of mid-day today, neither CN nor CP had issued a statement responding to the fines.
Transport Canada did not say how long the railways will have to pay their respective fines.
The weekly grain targets were established by the Conservative government last year in response to a transportation backlog that left prairie grain elevators filled to capacity and thousands of farmers unable to sell their grain.
Weekly hauling targets are still in place across the West, although the amount of grain that must be moved by the railways has been lowered.
Contact brian.cross@producer.com
