August 06, 2026
In May, Canadian railways carried 33.3 million tonnes of freight, up slightly (+1.0%) from May 2025. In May 2026, higher shipments of grains and some energy products offset declines in coal and iron ores.
The overall tonnage in May was above the five-year average for the month (31.8 million tonnes) and close to the record volume of 34.7 million tonnes reached in May 2019.
The increase in rail traffic was the result of higher volumes of domestic non-intermodal loadings (mainly commodities) as well as freight traffic received from railway connections in the United States, offsetting a slight decline in domestic intermodal loadings (mainly containers).
In May, intermodal shipments - mainly containers - originating in Canada declined on a year-over-year basis for the third consecutive month, edging down 0.9% to 3.4 million tonnes.
Continued declines in intermodal loadings volume may reflect a weakening of demand for imported goods, as Canadian international merchandise trade data reported that imports of consumer goods fell 2.8% year over year in May.
4.0 million tonnes of rail freight were received from the United States, an increase of 8.8%, or 321 000 tonnes, from May of the previous year and above the five-year average for the month of May (3.8 million tonnes).