Canadian rail freight rises 8% in August as grain loads surge
Railways moved 32.8 million tonnes, led by wheat and canola, while iron ore, coal and potash fell again. U.S.-origin traffic was up 14.6%.
Canada's railways carried 32.8 million tonnes of freight in August 2026, up 8.0% from August 2025, Statistics Canada reported on October 26. That beats the five-year August average of 30.4 million tonnes.
Grain did most of the work.
Commodities
Domestic non-intermodal freight rose 7.4% to 25.5 million tonnes.
| Commodity | Change vs. Aug. 2025 | Note | |---|---|---| | Wheat | +78.6% (+1.1 Mt) | 5th straight yearly gain | | Canola | +90.0% (+272,000 t) | 7th month in a row up | | Other cereal grains | +74.8% (+269,000 t) | | | Iron ore | −8.0% (−406,000 t) | 5th straight decline | | Coal | −8.6% (−290,000 t) | After −16.5% in June, −19.1% in July | | Potash | −5.1% (−118,000 t) | 4th straight decline |
Intermodal and U.S. traffic
Intermodal freight loaded in Canada rose 4.7% to 3.3 million tonnes. It was the first gain after five months of decline.
Traffic coming from the United States reached 4.0 million tonnes, up 14.6%. That is the seventh straight monthly increase and above the 3.8-million-tonne five-year average for August.
Grain keeps coming
The same release showed producers delivered 8.1 million tonnes of major grains in September, up 10.8% from a year earlier. Canola deliveries jumped 43.5% to 2.8 million tonnes. Wheat excluding durum rose 6.5% to 3.6 million tonnes.
Saskatchewan accounted for 46.7% of deliveries, Alberta 31.5% and Manitoba 16.1%.
Why it matters
Strong grain volumes keep rail capacity on the Prairies busy heading into winter. The bulk commodity drops in iron ore, coal and potash point the other way for mining-linked lanes.
The full monthly figures are in Statistics Canada table 23-10-0216-01.