OTTAWA, November 26th, 2019 – The Mining Association of Canada is relieved at the news that a tentative agreement has been reached between CN and its 3,200 conductors and yard crews. The impacts felt by the week-long strike resulted in costly disruptions for Canadian mining companies, many of whom incurred significant impacts over the last seven days, including lost sales and customers.
Given the mining industry is the most significant customer of Canada’s Class I railways, consistently accounting for the majority (52.3% in 2018) of rail freight revenues generated annually and is the single largest shipping group by volume, the strike was deeply felt by the sector. These impacts will continue to be felt for the foreseeable future as it takes approximately a week to move the backlog created per day of disrupted service.
It is imperative that dependable transportation be in place to ensure our products can get to market and CN and CP are an integral part in the shipping process. Disruptions in the supply chain, such as those incurred by this strike, damage Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner and must be avoided at all costs.
The mining industry is a major sector of Canada’s economy, contributing $97 billion to national GDP and responsible for 19 percent of Canada’s total domestic exports. Canada’s mining sector employs 626,000 people directly and indirectly across the country. The industry is proportionally the largest private sector employer of Indigenous peoples in Canada and a major customer of Indigenous-owned businesses.
About MAC
The Mining Association of Canada is the national organization for the Canadian mining industry. Its members account for most of Canada’s production of base and precious metals, uranium, diamonds, metallurgical coal, mined oil sands and industrial minerals and are actively engaged in mineral exploration, mining, smelting, refining and semi-fabrication. Please visit mining.ca.
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For more information, please contact:
Cynthia Waldmeier
Director of Communications, the Mining Association of Canada
Phone: 613-233-9392 x225 or 613-894-2128 (cell)
Email: cwaldmeier@mining.ca
