Railway carloadings, August 2026

Released: 2026-10-26

Highlights

In August, Canadian railways transported 32.8 million tonnes of freight, up 8.0% compared with August 2025.

The overall freight volume in August 2026 was above the previous five-year average of 30.4 million tonnes for the month, with higher loadings of agricultural products—notably grain—more than offsetting continuing declines in iron ores and coal.

Consult the Rail Data Visualization Hub to explore monthly and annual rail statistics in an interactive format.

Chart 1 
Railway carloadings, total tonnage

The year-over-year increase in total freight carried in August reflected higher volumes of traffic across all three main freight components: domestic non-intermodal loadings (mainly commodities), domestic intermodal loadings (mainly containers) and freight traffic received from US rail connections.

Agricultural products continue to grow

In August, loadings of non-intermodal freight in Canada rose 7.4% year over year to 25.5 million tonnes, driven by large increases in certain grains. Wheat led the way, up 78.6% (+1.1 million tonnes) from August 2025, marking the fifth consecutive year-over-year increase.

Similarly, carloadings of canola rose year over year for the seventh month in a row, up 90.0% (+272 000 tonnes) in August 2026 from August 2025. Carloadings of other cereal grains, which have been on an upward trend since July 2025, increased 74.8% (+269 000 tonnes) in August 2026 from August 2025.

The higher loadings in August 2026 coincided with year-over-year increases in the export value of Canada's farm, fishing and intermediate food products (+33.0%; +$1,275.5 million), as reported in the International merchandise trade by commodity table.

Chart 2 
Railway carloadings, largest commodity differences, August 2025 to August 2026

Iron ores and coal continue downward trend

Growth in commodity traffic in August was mainly moderated by declines in three commodities.

Loadings of iron ores and concentrates—feedstock for the production of steel—were down 8.0% (-406 000 tonnes) year over year in August, marking the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year decline and coinciding with lower year-to-date exports in 2026.

In August, loadings of coal were down 8.6% (-290 000 tonnes) from the same month a year earlier, following large decreases in June (-16.5%) and July (-19.1%).

Meanwhile, loadings of potash were down for the fourth consecutive month, down 5.1% (-118 000 tonnes) in August compared with the same month a year earlier.

Intermodal shipments up year over year

In August, rail intermodal shipments—mainly containers—originating in Canada increased 4.7% year over year to 3.3 million tonnes. This year-over-year increase followed five consecutive months of year-over-year decline.

American freight continues to increase

In August, freight traffic arriving from the United States increased to 4.0 million tonnes, up for the seventh straight month. Loadings were up sharply (+14.6%) compared with the same month in 2025 and were above the previous five-year average for the month of August (3.8 million tonnes).

Contact information

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