Railway carloadings, August 2024

Released: 2024-10-24

Highlights

In August, Canadian railways transported 27.8 million tonnes of freight, down 10.9% from August 2023, the lowest tonnage for the month in more than 10 years.

Shipments of coal and potash as well as containers led the decline, which coincided with a short but impactful work stoppage that affected Canada's mainline rail carriers.

To further explore the latest data and historical trends in an interactive format, please visit the "Monthly Railway Carloadings: Interactive Dashboard."

Chart 1 
Railway carloadings, total tonnage

Traffic down from East to West

During the month, there were disruptions to rail movements in anticipation of a work stoppage at Canada's two main rail carriers that began on August 22. Ahead of the stoppage, the carriers began a gradual shutdown to avoid stranding cargo and some American railways and a large marine container line began refusing shipments for Canada destined for rail.

Although the work stoppage ended by August 24, year-over-year volumes for the month were down across all types of rail operations: non-intermodal, intermodal and traffic from the United States. The decline was felt across the country, with a 13.1% drop in eastern Canada in August compared with the same month a year earlier, while traffic in western Canada was down 9.5% over the same period.

Coal carloadings lead decline

Non-intermodal freight loadings (mainly commodities) in Canada fell 9.0% year over year to 21.9 million tonnes in August. While widespread, the decline was driven by large decreases in the loadings of some commodities.

In particular, loadings of coal fell sharply by 22.3% (-677 000 tonnes) compared with August 2023. Similarly, loadings of potash dropped 26.5% (-577 000 tonnes) year over year in August 2024; this followed large increases in June (+17.3%) and July (+22.2%).

The declines in some commodities coincided with the work stoppage in late August 2024, which temporarily halted freight movements and port operations. For instance, loadings of lumber fell 22.4% (-163 000 tonnes) year over year in August 2024, while loadings of wheat were down 10.4% (-152 000 tonnes).

Chart 2 
Railway carloadings, largest commodity differences, August 2023 to August 2024

Carloadings of canola partially offset overall decline

Loadings of canola increased (+679 000 tonnes) year over year in August, reflecting a relatively low volume recorded in August 2023.

Intermodal traffic down

In August 2024, intermodal shipments—mainly containers—originating in Canada declined for the first time after six straight months of year-over-year increases. Tonnage was down 15.6% from August 2023 to reach 2.5 million, the lowest tonnage recorded for the month in over 10 years.

American freight down

In August 2024, freight traffic from the United States declined for the first time after six consecutive months of year-over-year increases, down 18.5% year over year in August to 3.4 million tonnes—the lowest level for the month of August since 2020.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).