Railway carloadings, December 2016
Released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time in The Daily, Tuesday, February 28, 2017
The volume of rail freight carried in Canada totalled 29.1 million tonnes in December, up 0.1% from the same month
in 2015.
Chart 1
Railway carloadings, total tonnage shipped
millions of tonnes
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
Dec.
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Dec.
2016
Source(s): CANSIM table 404-0002.
In December, freight originating in Canada decreased 0.4% from the same month in 2015 to 26.5 million tonnes.
Non-intermodal freight decreased 1.8% to 287,000 carloads in December. The amount of freight loaded into these
cars totalled 23.8 million tonnes, down 1.3% from the same month in 2015.
Tonnages of wheat (-16.0%), iron ores and concentrates (-3.8%), fuel oils and crude petroleum (-14.7%) and other
chemical products and preparations (-30.3%) shipped by rail declined in December on a year-over-year basis.
In comparison, potash (+21.9%), coal (+6.4%), gaseous hydrocarbons, including liquefied petroleum gases
(+16.7%) and fresh, chilled or dried vegetables (+34.5%) were up in December compared with the same month
in 2015.
Intermodal freight loadings rose 6.7% to 179,000 units from December 2015 to December 2016. The increase
stemmed from a 6.4% increase in containers-on-flat-cars and a 21.6% gain in trailers-on-flat-cars. In terms of
weight, intermodal traffic increased 8.0% to 2.7 million tonnes.
Freight traffic received from the United States rose 5.5% to 2.5 million tonnes as a result of a 6.4% increase in
non-intermodal freight and a 4.3% decline in intermodal freight from the United States.
The Daily, Tuesday, February 28, 2017
2016 in review
The total volume of rail freight carried in Canada reached 345.9 million tonnes in 2016, down 2.8% from
the 355.7 million tonnes of rail freight carried in 2015.
By average weight shipped each month, the top five commodities in 2016 were iron ores and concentrates
(4 401 000 tonnes), coal (2 646 000 tonnes), wheat (1 725 000 tonnes), potash (1 460 000 tonnes) and lumber
(1 007 000 tonnes). All except lumber managed to place among the top five shipments by weight each and every
month.
Chart 2
Railway carloadings, top commodities shipped
Iron ores and concentrates
Coal
Wheat
Potash
Colza seeds (canola)
0
1 000
2 000
3 000
4 000
thousands of tonnes
December 2015
December 2016
Source(s): CANSIM table 404-0002.
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Component of Statistics Canada catalogue no. 11-001-X
5 000
The Daily, Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Note to readers
The Monthly Railway Carloadings Survey collects data, including the number of rail cars, tonnage, units and 20-feet equivalent units, from
railways operating in Canada that provide for-hire freight service.
Non-intermodal freight is cargo moved via box cars or loaded in bulk. Intermodal freight is cargo moved via containers and trailers on
flat cars.
Data are available for Canada, the eastern division and the western division. For statistical purposes, cargo loadings from Thunder Bay,
Ontario, to the Pacific Coast are classified to the western division, while loadings from Armstrong, Ontario, to the Atlantic Coast are
classified to the eastern division.
Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted.
Available in CANSIM: table 404-0002.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2732.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us
(toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; [email protected]) or Media
Relations (613-951-4636; [email protected]).
Component of Statistics Canada catalogue no. 11-001-X
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