What is Canadian National Railway (CN)?

Canadian National Railway Company (CN) is Canada's largest freight railway and the only North American railway connecting three coasts: the Atlantic (Halifax), the Pacific (Vancouver and Prince Rupert), and the Gulf of Mexico (New Orleans, via the former Illinois Central). CN operates about 32,000 kilometres of track in Canada and the United States and ships approximately 300 million tonnes of freight a year, employing more than 23,000 people. The company is headquartered in Montreal and listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.

CN was created in 1919 by the Borden government to consolidate several bankrupt railways including the Grand Trunk Railway, the Canadian Northern Railway, and the National Transcontinental Railway. The consolidated CN was a federal Crown corporation for 76 years before being privatised in November 1995 under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien through the largest initial public offering in Canadian history at the time. The privatisation followed the 1989 Canadian Pacific deregulation under the National Transportation Act.

CN expanded into the United States after privatisation. The 1998 acquisition of the Illinois Central Railroad gave CN a route to the Gulf of Mexico. The 1999 to 2001 acquisitions of Wisconsin Central, Bessemer and Lake Erie, Elgin Joliet and Eastern, and the 2008 acquisition of the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway extended its network. CN's proposed 2021 acquisition of Kansas City Southern was outbid by Canadian Pacific, which then merged with KCS in 2023 to form Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

CN handles a wide range of freight: grain (mainly western Canadian wheat and canola through Vancouver and Prince Rupert), forest products, petroleum and chemicals, intermodal containers, automotive, metals and minerals, fertilisers, coal, and consumer goods. The company plays a critical role in Canadian supply chains, with the British Columbia and Quebec port complexes depending on CN service. The 2023 union dispute with Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, the 2020 Wet'suwet'en pipeline rail blockades, and the 2018-2019 grain backlog have all underscored the strategic role of rail in Canadian trade. The Transportation Safety Board investigates rail incidents and recommends safety improvements.