Highlights
The volume of cargo carried by Canadian railways reached 30.7 million tonnes in July 2025, down 0.4% from one year earlier.
Despite this decline, the overall freight volume in July 2025 was slightly above the five-year historical average of 29.8 million tonnes for the month of July.
Consult the Rail Data Visualization Hub to explore monthly and annual rail statistics in an interactive format.
Chart 1: Railway carloadings, total tonnage
Lower volumes of freight traffic from connections with American railways drove the overall traffic decrease in July, as non-intermodal domestic loadings (mainly commodities) and intermodal domestic loadings (mainly containers) both reported gains.
American freight traffic continues downward trend
In July 2025, freight loadings from US rail connections dropped 19.2% (-794 000 tonnes) to 3.3 million tonnes, the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year decline. According to Canadian international merchandise trade data for July, Canada's rail imports (-16.7%) and exports (-14.1%) with the United States were also down year over year. Freight loadings from US rail connections marked the lowest volume recorded for the month of July since the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Non-intermodal loadings up
Non-intermodal freight traffic in Canada rose 1.6% year over year to 24.2 million tonnes in July 2025, the highest level for the month since 2019. The gain in July 2025 was led by strong loadings of three commodities in particular: iron ore and concentrates (+10.5%; +469 000 tonnes), coal (+12.9%; +388 000 tonnes) and wheat (+15.2%; +275 000 tonnes). Indeed, carloadings of wheat have increased sharply year over year each month this year, with the exception of February.
Chart 2: Railway carloadings, largest commodity differences, July 2024 to July 2025
Description - Chart 2
Data table: Railway carloadings, largest commodity differences, July 2024 to July 2025
Source: Table 23-10-0216-02
Intermodal traffic up
In July 2025, intermodal shipments—mainly containers—originating in Canada increased 9.4% compared with July 2024 to 3.2 million tonnes, marking the fifth consecutive month of positive growth.
Focus on Canada and the United States
Freight traffic received from US connections fell 19.2% (-794 000 tonnes) year over year to 3.3 million tonnes in July 2025, marking the sixth straight month of double-digit declines in tonnage.
In 2023 and 2024, traffic received from US connections represented an average 12.0% of total rail tonnage each month. During the first quarter of 2025, this proportion edged down to 10.7%, then to 10.5% in the second quarter and settled at 10.8% in July 2025.
Statistics Canada continues to monitor potential impacts of tariffs on railway carloading statistics.
For more data and insights on areas touched by the socio-economic relationship between Canada and the United States, see the Focus on Canada and the United States webpage.
Note to readers
The Monthly Railway Carloadings Survey collects data on the number of rail cars, tonnage, units and 20-feet equivalent units from railway transporters operating in Canada that provide for-hire freight services.
Cargo loadings from Armstrong, Ontario, to the Atlantic Coast are classified to the eastern division (Eastern Canada), while loadings from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to the Pacific Coast are classified to the western division (Western Canada).
Survey data are revised on a monthly basis to reflect new information.
The data in this release are not seasonally adjusted.
The Transportation Data and Information Hub, featuring data from Statistics Canada, Transport Canada and partners, provides Canadians with online access to comprehensive statistics and indicators for the country's transportation sector.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).