Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 1996, c. 10)
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Act current to 2023-09-19 and last amended on 2023-06-22. Previous Versions
PART IIIRailway Transportation (continued)
DIVISION IIIFinancial Transactions of Railway Companies (continued)
Documents Dealing with Rolling Stock
Marginal note:Deposit of documents
105 (1) A document, or a copy or summary of a document, evidencing any of the following transactions may, in accordance with the regulations, be deposited by any person in the office of the Registrar General of Canada or in any other place that the Governor in Council may, by order, specify:
(a) a lease, sale, conditional sale, instalment sale, mortgage, hypothec, bailment, leasing, deposit or security agreement relating to rolling stock or any accessories or appurtenances relating to rolling stock; and
(b) an amendment, assignment or discharge of a document mentioned in paragraph (a).
(2) [Repealed, 2007, c. 19, s. 31]
Marginal note:Effect of deposit
(3) Once the deposit is made, the document need not be deposited, registered or filed under any other law or statute respecting real or personal property, and the document is valid against all persons.
(4) [Repealed, 2007, c. 19, s. 31]
- 1996, c. 10, s. 105
- 2007, c. 19, s. 31
Regulations
Marginal note:Regulations
105.1 The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting
(a) the depositing of copies of documents under sections 104 and 105;
(b) the form and content of summaries to be deposited under those sections; and
(c) the effects, in Canada, of the deposit, registration or filing in other countries of documents evidencing any transaction referred to in paragraph 105(1)(a) or of documents evidencing amendments, assignments or discharges of those documents.
- 2007, c. 19, s. 32
106 [Repealed, 2018, c. 10, s. 21]
107 [Repealed, 2018, c. 10, s. 21]
108 [Repealed, 2018, c. 10, s. 21]
109 [Repealed, 2018, c. 10, s. 21]
110 [Repealed, 2018, c. 10, s. 21]
DIVISION IVRates, Tariffs and Services
Interpretation
Marginal note:Definitions
111 In this Division,
- competitive line rate
competitive line rate[Repealed, 2018, c. 10, s. 22]
- confidential contract
confidential contract means a contract entered into under subsection 126(1); (contrat confidentiel)
- connecting carrier
connecting carrier means a railway company, other than a local carrier, that moves traffic to or from an interchange over a portion of a continuous route; (transporteur de liaison)
- interchange
interchange means a place where the line of one railway company connects with the line of another railway company and where loaded or empty cars may be stored until delivered or received by the other railway company; (lieu de correspondance)
- interswitch
interswitch means to transfer traffic from the lines of one railway company to the lines of another railway company; (interconnexion)
- interswitching rate
interswitching rate means a rate determined by the Agency in accordance with section 127.1; (Version anglaise seulement)
- local carrier
local carrier means a class 1 rail carrier that moves traffic to or from an interchange on a continuous route from the point of origin or to the point of destination that is served exclusively by the class 1 rail carrier; (transporteur local)
- long-haul interswitching rate
long-haul interswitching rate means a rate determined by the Agency in accordance with paragraph 134(1)(a); (Version anglaise seulement)
- service obligations
service obligations means obligations under section 113 or 114. (Version anglaise seulement)
- 1996, c. 10, s. 111
- 2018, c. 10, s. 22
Rates and Conditions of Service
Marginal note:Commercially fair and reasonable
112 A rate or condition of service established by the Agency under this Division must be commercially fair and reasonable to all parties.
Level of Services
Marginal note:Accommodation for traffic
113 (1) A railway company shall, according to its powers, in respect of a railway owned or operated by it,
(a) furnish, at the point of origin, at the point of junction of the railway with another railway, and at all points of stopping established for that purpose, adequate and suitable accommodation for the receiving and loading of all traffic offered for carriage on the railway;
(b) furnish adequate and suitable accommodation for the carriage, unloading and delivering of the traffic;
(c) without delay, and with due care and diligence, receive, carry and deliver the traffic;
(d) furnish and use all proper appliances, accommodation and means necessary for receiving, loading, carrying, unloading and delivering the traffic; and
(e) furnish any other service incidental to transportation that is customary or usual in connection with the business of a railway company.
Marginal note:Carriage on payment of rates
(2) Traffic must be taken, carried to and from, and delivered at the points referred to in paragraph (1)(a) on the payment of the lawfully payable rate.
Marginal note:Carriage on payment of levy
(2.1) If a railway company is to carry traffic in respect of which there is a levy under section 155.3 or 155.5, the traffic must be carried from a point referred to in paragraph (1)(a) by the railway company on the payment to the company of the levy, by the shipper, if the company is the first railway company to carry, at a rate other than an interswitching rate, the traffic after its loading.
Marginal note:Compensation for provision of rolling stock
(3) Where a shipper provides rolling stock for the carriage by the railway company of the shipper’s traffic, the company shall, at the request of the shipper, establish specific reasonable compensation to the shipper in a tariff for the provision of the rolling stock.
Marginal note:Confidential contract between company and shipper
(4) A shipper and a railway company may, by means of a confidential contract or other written agreement, agree on the manner in which the obligations under this section are to be fulfilled by the company.
- 1996, c. 10, s. 113
- 2015, c. 31, s. 8
- 2018, c. 10, s. 59(F)
Marginal note:Facilities for traffic
114 (1) A railway company shall, according to its powers, afford to all persons and other companies all adequate and suitable accommodation for receiving, carrying and delivering traffic on and from its railway, for the transfer of traffic between its railway and other railways and for the return of rolling stock.
Marginal note:Through traffic
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), adequate and suitable accommodation includes reasonable facilities for the receiving, carriage and delivery by the company
(a) at the request of any other company, of through traffic and, in the case of goods shipped by carload, of the car with the goods shipped in it, to and from the railway of the other company, at a through rate; and
(b) at the request of any person interested in through traffic, of such traffic at through rates.
Marginal note:Connecting railway to reasonable facilities
(3) Every railway company that has or operates a railway forming part of a continuous line of railway with or that intersects any other railway, or that has any terminus, station or wharf near to any terminus, station or wharf of another railway, shall afford all reasonable facilities for delivering to that other railway, or for receiving from or carrying by its railway, all the traffic arriving by that other railway without any unreasonable delay, so that
(a) no obstruction is offered to the public desirous of using those railways as a continuous line of communication; and
(b) all reasonable accommodation, by means of the railways of those companies, is at all times afforded to the public for that purpose.
Marginal note:Similar facilities for truckers
(4) If a railway company provides facilities for the transportation by rail of motor vehicles or trailers operated by any company under its control for the conveyance of goods for hire or reward,
(a) the railway company shall offer to all companies operating motor vehicles or trailers for the conveyance of goods for hire or reward similar facilities at the same rates and on the same terms and conditions as those applicable to the motor vehicles or trailers operated by the company under its control; and
(b) the Agency may disallow any rate or tariff that is not in compliance with this subsection and direct the company to substitute a rate or tariff that complies with this subsection.
Marginal note:Adequate and suitable accommodation
115 For the purposes of subsection 113(1) or 114(1), adequate and suitable accommodation includes reasonable facilities
(a) for the junction of private sidings or private spurs with a railway owned or operated by a company referred to in that subsection; and
(b) for receiving, carrying and delivering traffic on and from private sidings or private spurs and placing cars and moving them on and from those private sidings or private spurs.
Marginal note:Complaint and investigation concerning company’s obligations
116 (1) On receipt of a complaint made by any person that a railway company is not fulfilling any of its service obligations, the Agency shall
(a) conduct, as expeditiously as possible, an investigation of the complaint that, in its opinion, is warranted; and
(b) within 90 days after receipt of the complaint, determine whether the company is fulfilling that obligation.
Marginal note:Time limits
(1.1) For the purpose of an investigation conducted under subsection (1), the Agency shall allow a company at least 20 days to file an answer and at least 10 days for a complainant to file a reply.
Marginal note:Agency’s own motion
(1.11) The Agency may, with the authorization of the Minister and subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister considers appropriate, of its own motion, conduct an investigation to determine whether a railway company is fulfilling its service obligations. The Agency shall conduct the investigation as expeditiously as possible and make its determination within 90 days after the investigation begins.
Marginal note:Considerations
(1.2) The Agency shall determine that a company is fulfilling its service obligations if it is satisfied that the company provides the highest level of service in respect of those obligations that it can reasonably provide in the circumstances, having regard to the following considerations:
(a) the traffic to which the service obligations relate;
(b) the reasonableness of the shipper’s requests with respect to the traffic;
(c) the service that the shipper requires with respect to the traffic;
(d) any undertaking with respect to the traffic given by the shipper to the company;
(e) the company’s and the shipper’s operational requirements and restrictions;
(f) the company’s obligations, if any, with respect to a public passenger service provider;
(g) the company’s obligations in respect of the operation of the railway under this Act;
(h) the company’s contingency plans to allow it to fulfil its service obligations when faced with foreseeable or cyclical events; and
(i) any information that the Agency considers relevant.
Marginal note:Confidential contract binding on Agency
(2) If a company and a shipper agree, by means of a confidential contract, on the manner in which service obligations under section 113 are to be fulfilled by the company, the terms of that agreement are binding on the Agency in making its determination.
Marginal note:Long-haul interswitching order binding on Agency
(3) If a long-haul interwitching order has been made under subsection 134(1), the terms established by the order that are related to the manner in which the local carrier is to fulfil its service obligations are binding on the Agency in making its determination.
Marginal note:Orders of Agency
(4) If the Agency determines that a company is not fulfilling any of its service obligations, the Agency may
(a) order that
(i) specific works be constructed or carried out,
(ii) property be acquired,
(iii) cars, motive power or other equipment be allotted, distributed, used or moved as specified by the Agency, or
(iv) any specified steps, systems or methods be taken or followed by the company;
(b) specify in the order the maximum charges that may be made by the company in respect of the matter so ordered;
(c) order the company to fulfil that obligation in any manner and within any time or during any period that the Agency deems expedient, having regard to all proper interests, and specify the particulars of the obligation to be fulfilled;
(c.1) order the company to compensate any person adversely affected for any expenses that they incurred as a result of the company’s failure to fulfil its service obligations or, if the company is a party to a confidential contract with a shipper that requires the company to pay an amount of compensation for expenses incurred by the shipper as a result of the company’s failure to fulfil its service obligations, order the company to pay that amount to the shipper;
(d) if the service obligation is in respect of a grain-dependent branch line listed in Schedule I, order the company to add to the plan it is required to prepare under subsection 141(1) an indication that it intends to take steps to discontinue operating the line; or
(e) if the service obligation is in respect of a grain-dependent branch line listed in Schedule I, order the company, on the terms and conditions that the Agency considers appropriate, to grant to another railway company the right
(i) to run and operate its trains over and on any portion of the line, and
(ii) in so far as necessary to provide service to the line, to run and operate its trains over and on any portion of any other portion of the railway of the company against which the order is made but not to solicit traffic on that railway, to take possession of, use or occupy any land belonging to that company and to use the whole or any portion of that company’s right-of-way, tracks, terminals, stations or station grounds.
Marginal note:Right of action on default
(5) Every person aggrieved by any neglect or refusal of a company to fulfil its service obligations has, subject to this Act, an action for the neglect or refusal against the company.
Marginal note:Right of action not limited
(5.1) If an arbitrator’s decision made under section 169.37 includes a term with respect to an amount described in paragraph 169.31(1)(c.1), the term does not limit the right to claim an amount of compensation in an action under subsection (5).
Marginal note:Company not relieved
(6) Subject to the terms of a confidential contract referred to in subsection 113(4) or a tariff that sets out, in accordance with subsection 136.4(1), terms established in a long-haul interswitching order, a company is not relieved from an action taken under subsection (5) by any notice, condition or declaration if the damage claimed in the action arises from any negligence or omission of the company or any of its employees.
- 1996, c. 10, s. 116
- 2000, c. 16, s. 4
- 2014, c. 8, s. 5.1
- 2018, c. 10, ss. 23, 95
- Date modified: