Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 1996, c. 10)

Rates and Conditions of Service

Marginal note:Commercially fair and reasonable

112 A rate or condition of service established by the Agency under this Division must be commercially fair and reasonable to all parties.

Level of Services

Marginal note:Accommodation for traffic

• 113 (1) A railway company shall, according to its powers, in respect of a railway owned or operated by it,

  • (a) furnish, at the point of origin, at the point of junction of the railway with another railway, and at all points of stopping established for that purpose, adequate and suitable accommodation for the receiving and loading of all traffic offered for carriage on the railway;

  • (b) furnish adequate and suitable accommodation for the carriage, unloading and delivering of the traffic;

  • (c) without delay, and with due care and diligence, receive, carry and deliver the traffic;

  • (d) furnish and use all proper appliances, accommodation and means necessary for receiving, loading, carrying, unloading and delivering the traffic; and

  • (e) furnish any other service incidental to transportation that is customary or usual in connection with the business of a railway company.

• Marginal note:Carriage on payment of rates

  (2) Traffic must be taken, carried to and from, and delivered at the points referred to in paragraph (1)(a) on the payment of the lawfully payable rate.

• Marginal note:Carriage on payment of levy

  (2.1) If a railway company is to carry traffic in respect of which there is a levy under section 155.3 or 155.5, the traffic must be carried from a point referred to in paragraph (1)(a) by the railway company on the payment to the company of the levy, by the shipper, if the company is the first railway company to carry, at a rate other than an interswitching rate, the traffic after its loading.

• Marginal note:Compensation for provision of rolling stock

  (3) Where a shipper provides rolling stock for the carriage by the railway company of the shipper’s traffic, the company shall, at the request of the shipper, establish specific reasonable compensation to the shipper in a tariff for the provision of the rolling stock.

• Marginal note:Confidential contract between company and shipper

  (4) A shipper and a railway company may, by means of a confidential contract or other written agreement, agree on the manner in which the obligations under this section are to be fulfilled by the company.

Marginal note:Facilities for traffic

• 114 (1) A railway company shall, according to its powers, afford to all persons and other companies all adequate and suitable accommodation for receiving, carrying and delivering traffic on and from its railway, for the transfer of traffic between its railway and other railways and for the return of rolling stock.

• Marginal note:Through traffic

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), adequate and suitable accommodation includes reasonable facilities for the receiving, carriage and delivery by the company

  • (a) at the request of any other company, of through traffic and, in the case of goods shipped by carload, of the car with the goods shipped in it, to and from the railway of the other company, at a through rate; and

  • (b) at the request of any person interested in through traffic, of such traffic at through rates.

• Marginal note:Connecting railway to reasonable facilities

  (3) Every railway company that has or operates a railway forming part of a continuous line of railway with or that intersects any other railway, or that has any terminus, station or wharf near to any terminus, station or wharf of another railway, shall afford all reasonable facilities for delivering to that other railway, or for receiving from or carrying by its railway, all the traffic arriving by that other railway without any unreasonable delay, so that

  • (a) no obstruction is offered to the public desirous of using those railways as a continuous line of communication; and

  • (b) all reasonable accommodation, by means of the railways of those companies, is at all times afforded to the public for that purpose.

• Marginal note:Similar facilities for truckers

  (4) If a railway company provides facilities for the transportation by rail of motor vehicles or trailers operated by any company under its control for the conveyance of goods for hire or reward,

  • (a) the railway company shall offer to all companies operating motor vehicles or trailers for the conveyance of goods for hire or reward similar facilities at the same rates and on the same terms and conditions as those applicable to the motor vehicles or trailers operated by the company under its control; and

  • (b) the Agency may disallow any rate or tariff that is not in compliance with this subsection and direct the company to substitute a rate or tariff that complies with this subsection.

Marginal note:Adequate and suitable accommodation

115 For the purposes of subsection 113(1) or 114(1), adequate and suitable accommodation includes reasonable facilities

• (a) for the junction of private sidings or private spurs with a railway owned or operated by a company referred to in that subsection; and

• (b) for receiving, carrying and delivering traffic on and from private sidings or private spurs and placing cars and moving them on and from those private sidings or private spurs.

Marginal note:Complaint and investigation concerning company’s obligations

• 116 (1) On receipt of a complaint made by any person that a railway company is not fulfilling any of its service obligations, the Agency shall

  • (a) conduct, as expeditiously as possible, an investigation of the complaint that, in its opinion, is warranted; and

  • (b) within 90 days after receipt of the complaint, determine whether the company is fulfilling that obligation.

• Marginal note:Time limits

  (1.1) For the purpose of an investigation conducted under subsection (1), the Agency shall allow a company at least 20 days to file an answer and at least 10 days for a complainant to file a reply.

• Marginal note:Agency’s own motion

  (1.11) The Agency may, with the authorization of the Minister and subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister considers appropriate, of its own motion, conduct an investigation to determine whether a railway company is fulfilling its service obligations. The Agency shall conduct the investigation as expeditiously as possible and make its determination within 90 days after the investigation begins.

• Marginal note:Considerations

  (1.2) The Agency shall determine that a company is fulfilling its service obligations if it is satisfied that the company provides the highest level of service in respect of those obligations that it can reasonably provide in the circumstances, having regard to the following considerations:

  • (a) the traffic to which the service obligations relate;

  • (b) the reasonableness of the shipper’s requests with respect to the traffic;

  • (c) the service that the shipper requires with respect to the traffic;

  • (d) any undertaking with respect to the traffic given by the shipper to the company;

  • (e) the company’s and the shipper’s operational requirements and restrictions;

  • (f) the company’s obligations, if any, with respect to a public passenger service provider;

  • (g) the company’s obligations in respect of the operation of the railway under this Act;

  • (h) the company’s contingency plans to allow it to fulfil its service obligations when faced with foreseeable or cyclical events; and

  • (i) any information that the Agency considers relevant.

• Marginal note:Confidential contract binding on Agency

  (2) If a company and a shipper agree, by means of a confidential contract, on the manner in which service obligations under section 113 are to be fulfilled by the company, the terms of that agreement are binding on the Agency in making its determination.

• Marginal note:Long-haul interswitching order binding on Agency

  (3) If a long-haul interwitching order has been made under subsection 134(1), the terms established by the order that are related to the manner in which the local carrier is to fulfil its service obligations are binding on the Agency in making its determination.

• Marginal note:Orders of Agency

  (4) If the Agency determines that a company is not fulfilling any of its service obligations, the Agency may

  • (a) order that

    • (i) specific works be constructed or carried out,

    • (ii) property be acquired,

    • (iii) cars, motive power or other equipment be allotted, distributed, used or moved as specified by the Agency, or

    • (iv) any specified steps, systems or methods be taken or followed by the company;

  • (b) specify in the order the maximum charges that may be made by the company in respect of the matter so ordered;

  • (c) order the company to fulfil that obligation in any manner and within any time or during any period that the Agency deems expedient, having regard to all proper interests, and specify the particulars of the obligation to be fulfilled;

  • (c.1) order the company to compensate any person adversely affected for any expenses that they incurred as a result of the company’s failure to fulfil its service obligations or, if the company is a party to a confidential contract with a shipper that requires the company to pay an amount of compensation for expenses incurred by the shipper as a result of the company’s failure to fulfil its service obligations, order the company to pay that amount to the shipper;

  • (d) if the service obligation is in respect of a grain-dependent branch line listed in Schedule I, order the company to add to the plan it is required to prepare under subsection 141(1) an indication that it intends to take steps to discontinue operating the line; or

  • (e) if the service obligation is in respect of a grain-dependent branch line listed in Schedule I, order the company, on the terms and conditions that the Agency considers appropriate, to grant to another railway company the right

    • (i) to run and operate its trains over and on any portion of the line, and

    • (ii) in so far as necessary to provide service to the line, to run and operate its trains over and on any portion of any other portion of the railway of the company against which the order is made but not to solicit traffic on that railway, to take possession of, use or occupy any land belonging to that company and to use the whole or any portion of that company’s right-of-way, tracks, terminals, stations or station grounds.

• Marginal note:Right of action on default

  (5) Every person aggrieved by any neglect or refusal of a company to fulfil its service obligations has, subject to this Act, an action for the neglect or refusal against the company.

• Marginal note:Right of action not limited

  (5.1) If an arbitrator’s decision made under section 169.37 includes a term with respect to an amount described in paragraph 169.31(1)(c.1), the term does not limit the right to claim an amount of compensation in an action under subsection (5).

• Marginal note:Company not relieved

  (6) Subject to the terms of a confidential contract referred to in subsection 113(4) or a tariff that sets out, in accordance with subsection 136.4(1), terms established in a long-haul interswitching order, a company is not relieved from an action taken under subsection (5) by any notice, condition or declaration if the damage claimed in the action arises from any negligence or omission of the company or any of its employees.

Traffic of Grain

116.1 [Repealed, 2014, c. 8, s. 6]

116.2 [Repealed, 2014, c. 8, s. 6]

116.3 [Repealed, 2014, c. 8, s. 6]

Tariffs — General

Marginal note:Rates to be charged

• 117 (1) Subject to section 126, a railway company shall not charge a rate in respect of the movement of traffic or passengers unless the rate is set out in a tariff that has been issued and published in accordance with this Division and is in effect.

• Marginal note:Tariff to include prescribed information

  (2) The tariff must include any information that the Agency may prescribe by regulation.

• Marginal note:Accessibility of tariff

  (3) The railway company shall make the tariff accessible to the public by publishing it on its Internet site.

• (4) [Repealed, 2018, c. 10, s. 24]

• Marginal note:Record of tariff

  (5) The railway company shall keep a record of the tariff for at least three years after its cancellation.

Tariffs — Freight

Marginal note:Freight tariff requested by shipper

118 A railway company shall, at the request of a shipper, issue a tariff in respect of the movement of traffic on its railway.

Marginal note:Notice of change of tariff

• 119 (1) A railway company that proposes to increase a rate in a tariff for the movement of traffic shall publish a notice of the increase at least 30 days before its effective date.

• Marginal note:Effect of freight tariff

  (2) If a railway company issues and publishes a tariff of rates for the movement of traffic in accordance with this Division and Division VI,

  • (a) the rates are the lawful rates of the railway company and, subject to subsection (1), they take effect on the date stated in the tariff;

  • (b) the tariff supersedes any preceding tariff or any portion of it in so far as any rate in the tariff is varied; and

  • (c) a railway company that owns or operates a railway line in respect of which the tariff is issued shall charge the rates in the tariff until they expire or until the tariff is superseded by a new tariff.

Marginal note:Application to vessels

120 The provisions of this Division relating to tariffs, in so far as the Agency considers them applicable, apply to traffic carried by a railway company by water between ports or places in Canada if the company owns, charters, uses, maintains or operates vessels for carrying traffic by water between ports or places in Canada, or is a party to an arrangement for using, maintaining or operating vessels for that purpose.

Marginal note:Unreasonable charges or terms

• 120.1 (1) If, on complaint in writing to the Agency by a shipper who is subject to any charges and associated terms and conditions for the movement of traffic or for the provision of incidental services that are found in a tariff that applies to more than one shipper other than a tariff referred to in subsection 165(3), the Agency finds that the charges or associated terms and conditions are unreasonable, the Agency may, by order, establish new charges or associated terms and conditions.

• Marginal note:Period of validity

  (2) An order made under subsection (1) remains in effect for the period, not exceeding one year, specified in the order.

• Marginal note:Factors to be considered

  (3) In deciding whether any charges or associated terms and conditions are unreasonable, the Agency shall take into account the following factors:

  • (a) the objective of the charges or associated terms and conditions;

  • (b) the industry practice in setting the charges or associated terms and conditions;

  • (c) in the case of a complaint relating to the provision of any incidental service, the existence of an effective, adequate and competitive alternative to the provision of that service; and

  • (d) any other factor that the Agency considers relevant.

• Marginal note:Commercially fair and reasonable

  (4) Any charges or associated terms and conditions established by the Agency shall be commercially fair and reasonable to the shippers who are subject to them as well as to the railway company that issued the tariff containing them.

• Marginal note:Duty to vary tariff

  (5) The railway company shall, without delay after the Agency establishes any charges or associated terms and conditions, vary its tariff to reflect those charges or associated terms and conditions.

• Marginal note:No variation

  (6) The railway company shall not vary its tariff with respect to any charges or associated terms and conditions established by the Agency until the period referred to in subsection (2) has expired.

• Marginal note:Clarification

  (7) For greater certainty, this section does not apply to rates for the movement of traffic.