The major railways in Canada are CN and Canadian Pacific (CP). Both railways are considered “class 1” railways, meaning they have an operating revenue greater than $250 million. CN is the biggest railway in Canada.
CN is considerably larger than CP, although CP will be much closer to CN’s size once CP completes its merger with Kansas City Southern.
| From Annual Reports | CN 2021 | CP 2021 | KCS 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (billions of $) | $14.5 | $8.0 | $2.6 |
| Operating ratio | 61.2% | 59.9% | 60.7% |
| Workforce | 22,600 | 11,834 | 6,522 |
| Network size (rail miles) | 19,500 | 13,000 | 7,100 |
| Carloads (thousands) | 5,701 | 2,736 | 2,153 |
Canada’s Regional and Short Line Railways
There are several large railways in Canada that are smaller than CN or CP but still span multiple provinces or a significant part of a province.
These include:
- BNSF – operates in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
- Ontario Northland Railway – operates in Ontario and Quebec
- Hudson Bay Railway – operates in Manitoba and Saskatchewan
- New Brunswick Southern Railway / Maine Northern Railway – operates in New Brunswick and Maine
For more information, please see Canadian short line railways.
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