Canadian Government acts to get grain moving in Western Canada

Today the Ministers Ritz and Raitt announced an Order in Council which will take effect immediately, setting weekly minimums of grain that the rails must move. CN and CP will each be responsible for moving 500,000 tonnes of western grain each week, or else face daily fines of up to $100,000.

There will be a 4 week ramping up period for the rails to meet this standard, which represents a 100% increase from their current levels.

This year’s grain crop is expected to be around 90 million tonnes, up from last year’s 71 million.