6 RAIL TRANSPORTATION

EMPLOYMENT

As Addendum Table A6-4 shows, employment in the rail sector has been declining significantly for many years. Over the past 13 years, railway employment fell by 4.6 per cent per year, from more than 67,000 in 1990 to about 36,000 in 2003. Employment at Class I carriers dropped 48 per cent over this period, or 4.9 per cent per year. Considering the loss of regional rail carrier employees due to CN's takeover of Algoma Central, this sector experienced annual average reductions in employment of 5.3 per cent over the same time period (from 5,600 employees in 1990 to just under 2,800 employees in 2003). By contrast, employment in the shortline sector increased 263 per cent over the same period, or 10.4 per cent per year, to reach approximately 2,000 people in 2003. The relative levels of employment in each class of carrier are consistent with these changes. From 1990 to 2003, the Class I carriers dropped from about 91 per cent of total rail industry employment to about 87 per cent, while the regional carriers dropped from 8.4 per cent to 7.6 per cent. Shortline employment, on the other hand, grew from a virtually non-existent proportion to about 5.6 per cent of total rail industry employment.

Table 6-4 compares the level of employment in the rail industry in 2002 and 2003.

Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding.

1. Estimated for several carriers.

Source: Transport Canada, Statistics Canada

Major Events in 2004

Infrastructure

Industry Structure

Employment

Energy

Freight Transportation

Passenger Traffic

Price, Productivity and Financial Performance