TOO MUCH
ON THE LINE

KEEP

SUPPLY CHAINS ON TRACK

Canada’s farmers, exporters, and global customers depend on reliable rail and port infrastructure. When a labour stoppage shuts down a rail line or a port, Canada pays the price. Bill C-39 is meant to prevent that, and two changes would finish the job.

See the Impact

Canada is one of the world’s most reliable producers of grain, oilseeds, and pulses. But when grain shipments stall, export sales are lost, and Canada’s reputation as a dependable supplier is put at risk.

This is happening more often than it should. In recent years, Canada’s grain supply chain has faced repeated disruptions across rail and port operations.

During the 2024 dual-railway work stoppage, the grain sector estimated losses of over $35 million per day.

BUT THE TRUE COST IS EVEN HIGHER

New economic analysis shows the cost of these disruptions is measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

$540 million

Lost from the grain sector in just one week of rail and port shutdown during peak export season

$507 million

Lost from a one-week shutdown of both major railways

$112 million

Lost sales that can occur before a work stoppage even begins

The cost of supply chain disruptions

94%

of Canadian grain moves
by rail

~70%

of total Canadian grain production is exported

WHAT BILL C-39 DOES

The Building Canada Strong Act introduces 4 changes to the Labour Code that matter to the grain supply chain:

Bargaining starts earlier - Where the last round ended in an imposed settlement or a work stoppage, the parties must now meet and begin bargaining 200 to 180 days before the agreement expires, rather than the usual four months.
More runway for high risk negotiations gives more chance of settling before a disruption.
A Special Mediator - A new role, appointed by the Minister, who works with the parties and then reports publicly. This will help ensure the country sees what is actually in dispute before anything stops moving.
Authority to end a dispute - Once a stoppage is underway, the Minister can order operations resumed, extend the existing agreement, or impose a binding method of settlement.

This is substantially what Canada's grain sector asked the government to do. Our two proposed changes are about making it work in practice.

KEEP GRAIN MOVING

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS

Bill C-39 is now before committee, and it contains labour measures Canada’s grain sector asked for. Two changes would make them work, so that labour disruptions are addressed before they stop Canada’s rail and port system.

How labour disruptions are prevented and resolved will determine Canada’s ability to compete in global markets.

1.

Make the mediator automatic, not optional

The bill creates the Special Mediator we asked for, then leaves appointing one entirely to the Minister. No party can request one and if none is appointed there is no report - and because the authority to impose a binding settlement depends on the Minister having considered that report, it may never become available at all.

All agreements that have reached day 75 of conciliation should be automatically appointed a special mediator and the mediation should be allowed to run longer where it is working.

2.

Let the Minister act before the shutdown

The Minister can only act once a stoppage is underway but by then the damage is done: roughly $112 million in sales is lost before a single train stops, because customers book elsewhere the day a strike notice lands. A framework that acts only after the shutdown accepts that loss as the cost of doing business.

Allow the Minister to act before a stoppage begins.

THERE'S TOO MUCH ON THE LINE TO STAND STILL

With Bill C-39 now before committee, this is the moment for government, industry, and labour to get the details right. Write to your MP in support of two changes that would reduce the risk of future disruptions and help keep Canada’s grain moving to global markets.

Tell your Member of Parliament: Canada needs a plan to keep our grain supply chain moving.

Subject: Amend Bill C-39

Dear [MP Name],

I am writing about Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, and specifically the labour provisions in Part 3.

Ninety-four per cent of Canadian grain moves by rail, and when rail stops, our customers overseas do not wait - they buy from Australia, from the Black Sea, from Argentina. Roughly $112 million in sales is lost before a work stoppage even begins, because buyers move the day a strike notice is issued.

The grain sector asked the federal government for two things: an independent mediator, and the authority to resolve a dispute before the country pays for it. Bill C-39 contains both, and I want to be clear that I welcome that.

Two changes would make those measures work: