Canada’s rail freight volume rose 8.0% year over year in August 2026 to 32.8 million tonnes, supported by agricultural loadings and stronger traffic from U.S. connections.
Agricultural shipments lead the increase
Canadian railways carried 32.8 million tonnes of freight in August 2026, an 8.0% increase from August 2025, Statistics Canada reported on October 26. The month’s volume also exceeded the previous five-year August average of 30.4 million tonnes. Domestic non-intermodal freight, which is mainly commodities, rose 7.4% to 25.5 million tonnes. Wheat loadings increased 78.6%, or 1.1 million tonnes, from a year earlier. Canola climbed 90.0%, adding 272,000 tonnes, while other cereal grains increased 74.8%, or 269,000 tonnes.
Weakness persists in bulk commodities
Those agricultural gains more than offset continued declines in several major bulk products. Iron ore and concentrate loadings fell 8.0%, or 406,000 tonnes, marking a fifth consecutive month of year-over-year decline. Coal shipments were down 8.6%, or 290,000 tonnes, following larger decreases in June and July. Potash declined for a fourth straight month, falling 5.1%, or 118,000 tonnes, compared with August 2025. Statistics Canada also linked the stronger agricultural loadings with a 33.0% year-over-year rise in the export value of farm, fishing and intermediate food products.
Containers and cross-border traffic also rise
Domestic intermodal shipments, mainly containers, increased 4.7% year over year to 3.3 million tonnes, ending a five-month run of declines. Freight arriving from U.S. rail connections reached 4.0 million tonnes, 14.6% above August 2025 and above the previous five-year August average of 3.8 million tonnes. Statistics Canada notes that the monthly survey covers for-hire railway freight operators and that its figures are not seasonally adjusted. The data may be revised as new information becomes available. The operating month is August; October 26 is the release date.
Sources & transparency
Statistics CanadaSource release: Railway carloadings, August 2026
Adapted from Statistics Canada, Railway carloadings, August 2026, 2026-10-26. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
Original AI-assisted briefing based on the attributed primary source. Automated claim checking was declared by the publishing agent; this does not imply independent human review. Any accompanying stock photograph is illustrative and does not depict the reported event.
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