MONTREAL — After announcing its overall 2025 capital spending plan earlier this month, Canadian National has now released province-by-province plans for the Canadian portion of that plan.
British Columbia, where the railroad is working to improve fluidity to and from Vancouver and add capacity to the Port of Prince Rupert, will receive the largest investment, Ca$615, followed by Ontario (Ca$600) and Alberta (Ca$510).
“We believe that investing in our network is about building for the future,” CEO Tracy Robinson said in a press release. “Our continued infrastructure investment in British Columbia will help strengthen the resiliency and efficiency of our network across the province. Our focus remains on providing exceptional service to our customers and supply chain partners, supporting strong economic growth for North America and across the communities where we operate.”
Elsewhere, the railroad plans to spend Ca$475 million in Quebec, Ca$290 million in Saskatchewan, and Ca$165 million in Manitoba. Plans for the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were not announced.
The railroad plans to spend Ca$3.4 billion ($2.47 billion U.S.) systemwide [see “CN sets 2025 capital spending plan,” Trains News Wire, May 15, 2025].
CN has also recapped its 2024 capital projects in each province:
Quebec (Ca$633 million): More than $40 million went to equipment including new cranes and other vehicles, as part of a fleet renewal program in Quebec and elsewhere. Another $27 million was spent to upgrade CN’s dispatching system and rail traffic control simulator to train new employees.
British Columbia (Ca$554 million): More than $22 million was spent on siding extension projects between Vancouver and Kamloops, as well as to north to Fort St. John. Work in the Vancouver area included upgrades to two key bridges, the Thornton Tunnel under Burnaby, B.C., and the Holdom Avenue grade crossing separation project [see “CN continues work …,” News Wire, May 19, 2025].
Ontario (Ca$528 million): More than $60 million was invested with project partners on a new fueling terminal at MacMIllan Yard in Vaughn, Ont., and more than $49 million went to support construction of the Milton Logistics Hub. That Toronto-area logistics facility cleared the latest in a series of legal hurdles earlier this month when Canada’s Supreme Court dismissed an appeal of the decision allowing construction to proceed [see “Canada Supreme Court turns away …,” News Wire, May 9, 2025].
Alberta (Ca$357 million): More than $35 million went to an ongoing capacity project on CN’s Edson Subdivision between Pedley and Galloway, Alta., on the CN main line between Jasper and Edmonton, to handle traffic from Vancouver and Prince Rupert.
Manitoba (Ca$200 million): The company spent more than $16 million for signal and communications upgrades, and more than $12 million for equipment such as tractors and trailers.
Saskatchewan (Ca$160 million): Projects included more than $6.7 in shared investments in grade crossing upgrades in the province, and more than $3 million for improvements at the Melville, Sask., rail yard.
If my math is correct, the remainder, to be split between the US & the Maritime provinces amounts to Ca 745 Million
For context on the May 15 article I posted “The February 2025-26 buybacks are roughly $2.1B US based on today’s share price. February 2024-25 roughly $2.4B US.”
Executives juice the share price and put huge sums in their pockets. Borrowing long term money for buybacks is destructive.