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Financial, Accounting and Costing Matters

The Agency prescribes the Uniform Classification of Accounts and Related Railway Records (UCA) and the Railway Costing Regulations to determine railway costs for regulated activities. Federally regulated railways use the UCA to report their operating expenses, revenues and other statistics to the Agency, Transport Canada and Statistics Canada. The costing regulations set out the items and factors for making railway costing determinations, including cost of capital and depreciation.

The Agency annually approves cost of capital rates that it uses to determine interswitching rates and other railway costs, and to develop the volume-related composite price index, which will be used to determine the railway revenue cap for the movement of western grain. The UCA specifies the procedures railway companies are to follow when filing their annual depreciation rates for the Agency's approval. These rates are used to determine the railway companies' annual depreciation expenses, which usually comprise a significant portion of total expenses.

• Uniform Classification of Accounts and Related Railway Records

• Cost of Capital Rates

  • Agency Approved Cost of Capital Rates:

    • For Transportation of Western Grain

    • For Regulatory Purposes Other Than Grain and Interswitching Rates

  • Calculating a Cost of Capital Rate

• Depreciation Rates

• Railway Costing

  • Overview of the Agency's Regulatory Costing Model