conductor

intern

conducteur de train routier

project manager

engineer

The work in the running trades is very enjoyable but you'll need to build seniority to get the good shifts. 

You'll work outside during good and bad weather in a yard or on the road. Typically if you're doing yard work you'll receive less pay but have a monday-friday 40 hour a week schedule. Junior employees will have a tuesday-saturday shift that starts at 10pm which isn't to be discounted, you'll spend 5-10 years (depending on location) working the bad shifts. Road work pays more but doesn't really have a set schedule at all, be prepared to work at 5am one morning then 9pm the next night, you will be on call 24/7 it can grind you down if you don't truly commit to the railway as a lifestyle instead of just a job. This doesn't sound hard on paper but just imagine never having a schedule and you must show up to work when the phone rings or you will face discipline leading up to your termination. The railways stance is that this isn't a problem because employees are able to "book unfit", which means you're simply too tired to work and they take you off the working board for 8 hours. Let me run you through how this actually plays out:

Your phone rings randomly (Which happens almost half of the shifts you work) and you've been up all day. When you attempt to book "unfit" the railway will bring you in for a formal discipline hearing and it will imply that you've done something wrong. So despite giving you as an employee no notice (something that is completely out of your control), you tried to book off "on call", which in their view, "disrupts operations" and will most certainly lead up to discipline and eventually the termination of your employment. Even if you go to these formal hearings prepared with screenshots of the "train lineup" (A board managers are supposed to update which shows the general time you are starting a shift) that showed the train "scheduled" for 10pm then you end up having to work at 8am despite being up all night, Eventually you will disciplined because management starts viewing you as "unreliable" and will claim that you have a "pattern of booking off". Despite the train lineup being something completely out of your control, middle and upper management (including HR) will NEVER take your side. You will be viewed with increased disdain and an effort will be made to terminate you. 

Canadian national will also disregard the collective agreement between them and the union that you'll belong to. Because of the railway act in Canada the railway operates on a "do it now, file a grievance later' philosophy, meaning that unlike other unionized environments you will be expected and obligated to do any and all extra work your boss tells you to do. If you start filing alot of grievances because of said extra work the company will again become toxic, any mistake you make will be amplified and the discipline harsh. No bones about it, a real effort will be made to not only get out of paying the grievances but also to terminate you for mistakes and made up circumstances. I have witnessed managers simply lie and make things up to discipline people over because it can help bolster their case to terminate that person, it can come down to your word vs theirs. I've even seen people fired for "calling in sick too much" despite bringing doctors notes, If the railway brass figures you're "faking it" they'll terminate you for being sick even though its against the canada labor code. The idea is to keep you fearful for your job so you'll do whatever your boss says without question and show up to work whenever they want. Because of these things the turnover rate is extremely high, alot of new employees don't stick around to build seniority and lots of people get fired. I've watched many "getter dun" type hardworking canadians slowly grinded down by this machine because it simply doesn't care about anything other than money. 

The toxic culture really is a shame,. If I wasn't 20 years deep with a house and kids to pay for I wouldn't pick the railway as a career option.



The company is very open as to the poor work/life balance when you sign. They fail to mention how easily people can get fired as it isn’t that important considering the union will get your job back 9 times out of 10, everyone has a horror story that makes you ask “how exactly do you still have a job here?” Lower level managers (Trainmasters) are often times extremely under qualified for their jobs and have either no experience on the railway or have been fired as a conductor from either CN or CP and sometimes both, it’s this inexperience that leads to headaches and arguments between union members (conductors and L.E.s) and management. Frankly the managers I dealt with when I worked at McDonalds in my early teens were better. I decided I didn’t want to deal with the politics of management vs union and left the industry before it was too late, you know it’s bad when you approach a union member (yardmaster) and they have to say “woah woah woah, I’m a union member too here, not management” multiple times during a conversation as you really can’t trust the managers here. Benefits are nothing to write home about and the wage is good when you’re working, when you first qualify in a busy terminal you’ll be placed on a retention board with a decent guarantee however you’ll only be working once or twice a week potentially which albeit is nice as you’re making ok money while not working much however it isn’t anywhere near the large figures they mention in the interview process. Also I hope you enjoy going down as a crew as majority of times if someone screws up both or all crew members will face punishment, even if you’re 1000+ feet away they’ll try to get you on some BS reason (don’t worry though, the union will get your job back!) 

If you live far away from a CN terminal, don't expect to see your family or friends very much at all.
Time off is very infrequent. 

When starting out, the training wage is poor, and once qualified you will be working on-call 24/7 in all likelihood.
Very difficult to plan anything outside of work, and work-life balance is nonexistent.

If your home terminal has an abundance of employees, you will be sent away to fill a shortage at more remote terminals.

The new training approach only prepares emplyees to work at their home terminal. Once forced on shortage many newly qualified conductors find themselves ill-equipped for the work that is expected of them. 

Example: Jasper employees are trained to do ride-and-glide trips on CTC (signalled) track. Most get forced away to places like Chetwynd BC which is OCS (non-signalled track) with an abundance of yard work and switching. Jasper trainees are given 10 yard shifts worth of training, while Chetwynd trainees do up to 45 yards. But management's excuse is that they are "qualified conductors" even though they are clearly unprepared to work a job they have no experience doing. Many Jasper trainees have only ever filled out an OCS clearance once, and are completely lost once they become responsible for a train operating in OCS.

If you have no attachments back home, and don't mind being away for months at a time, CN is a great way to make a quick buck after you've qualified, but it is not a well managed organization, and you are treated like just another number.

Entry is very easy. As long as you're breathing they will let you in. If you're a visible minority, they'll definitely want you. I've worked with people who barely speak english, which is a serious issue on the ground, but management doesn't care.

The employees with higher seniority know their job very well, and are usually very friendly. As long as you bring the right attitude and work ethic, they will be more than happy to help you learn and grow as a professional. But most do not suffer fools lightly. If you don't have what it takes, or don't apply yourself, you will be shown very little patience.

As of May 2022, I work in the IT department so my feedback will be based mostly on how we live our day-to-day in the HQ. 
From what I've seen elsewhere, salaries at CN are higher (not necessarily true in all cases) than what's offered in the market especially if you compare with some banking institutions even in Toronto.  But this does not stop employees from leaving the company. Not sure about this, but I believe most of the internal IT units allow employees to WFH at their convenience (100%) which is good -- it will be up to you--, but it will also depend on the project. In Montreal, the business language is English, in most cases, keep in mind that we need to communicate with business users all over Canada and the States. 
During the past six years or so, we've been experiencing massive cuts, putting a burden on our lives -- at the end of the day you look around, check who's still around and keep doing your stuff!!  
Ironically, these cuts have come accompanied by massive management promotions on a couple of occasions!! 
For some strange reason to me and given the size of the company, there are no inter-department sports tournaments as you can find in other big companies. Sporadically we have some special activities but that's all. There is a cool Gym in the main HQ building. 
As for me, I've learned a lot here. I've met nice people (and not so nice too). I really like working here (in general), because that will depend on the team you are in. One advantage I see is that eventually, you can move to other IT units, if you so desire, and work in a different practice. Finally, our IT infrastructure is evolving, so there are tons of exciting projects.


This WAS a great company but today's culture includes a completely stripped-down organization with constant outsourcing, unclear objectives, and lots and LOTS of red tape. It's best to work for an organization who will value your hardwork and foster a performance plan for you. Compensation is no longer industry standard.

Employees have been very vocal to HR and current leadership advising of inefficiencies, changing marketplace trends, and better services we want to offer our customers. They were taken with a grain of salt and YES leaders decided to go in another direction with impractical objectives and deadlines fostering a very stressful and hostile work environment.

Employees have a lot of pride in this company - it truly is great working for the railroad and see something considered as the backbone of Canada - that's probably what's enjoyable; seeing the great men and women in all aspects of the railroad keep it moving. But management is really turning it into an absolute nightmare. Constant re-orgs (layoffs) occur and attrition is high as people have just grown frustrated. There's almost no progression for your career.

Leadership has been reluctant to act, instead using HR and Public Affairs to direct employees to fill out the Employee Satisfaction surveys to voice our concerns with no action. You can clearly see from the responses to these reviews; the templated answers demonstrates the company's lack of understanding, care, and action - THIS WILL BE YOUR FUTURE if you work for CN; constant robotic and templated responses, red tape, lack of action, but now importantly; lack of progression for your career with the organization.

Working at CN, you will have better than average pay, with reasonably good benefits. 

Due to the nature of the railroad industry, you will be away from home more than you are at home. You could be away from home for more than a week at a time. You may have to stay in work camps or bunk houses that are in the middle of nowhere in very remote locations. This job is one which brings with it many adventures. It's not a real good job for anyone who is married or has kids, because you will not be seeing them very much.

The Management have the shareholders to answer to, they do a pretty good job with keeping the numbers looking good on paper. Unfortunately it doesn't always bode well for the lower ranking employees. There is a "Big Brother"management style that, in my opinion, hurts the company productivity rather than helps.

Middle management is frequently disorganized and unable to plan ahead whatsoever. There are too many levels of management that have conflicting interests and ideas as to what needs to be done. This area needs large improvements.

I don't think CN is necessarily a bad company to work for. They pay well, and you get to see the country. Just be aware that this will be your whole life due to the nature of railroading; there will not be any time left over for your family or friends. It's really not gonna work for most people, it takes a certain kind of individual to work here.

CN has a great extensive training program for new conductors. They fly you to Winnipeg if you hire in Canada, and you're there 7 weeks. They pay for flights, hotel the whole time, and all meals, plus pay you a weekly salary for attending class 5 days a week. During those 7 weeks though, they make CN sound like the best company to work for ever.

Sure, you read online and hear about the on call 24/7/365 thing, and for the most part, with exceptions, that's true. It wouldn't be a huge issue for single guys like me, or even family men, if their train lineups were accurate ever... you'll show going out at 6am so you decide to go to bed at 10pm to be tested. Suddenly your phone rings to go work for 12 hours on a train at 11pm. If you say no, you're hauled in for an investigation and discipline. 

If management would update the lineups and not hide random trains on lineups, we would have a better idea when we're going to work.

You do make good money. Will you make over $100,000 a year as a conductor? Not at the beginning, unless you go to a few select terminals like McLennan or Roma Junction where they're always short guys and pay a very good salary to entice people up there. But for other terminals, you could make 75% of that, but after a few years, you definitely could make 6 figures. 

It's definitely not your average job and it is what you make of it. But I'm posting this at 4am, because I'm awake waiting for my next call to take a train. That should tell you what to expect from this career.....

Ask any employee here, its any wonder this company makes money. Management has no idea what they're doing, are frequently way under trained, misinformed, and pressured to discipline employees excessively. It comes to the point where we come into work and wonder if we are going to get fired today. They always have some excuse, or reason to write you up, remove you from service, or assign demerits, or provide a failure on what they called random safety testing. Safety culture looks great on paper, means absolutely  nothing in reality. The rules are written to cover the companies butts, and discipline employees and not actually keep anyone safe for the most part. The company and its constant monitoring, baby sitting and supervision of its employees makes you feel like your 12. They spend so much time making sure your actually working and following policy and rules to the exact letter you no longer actually focus on your job rather to make sure you aren't breaking any rules. Management also makes these amazing decisions on having the newer or less-experienced employees train the brand new employees instead of having the season and experienced employees do so. This is part of staff shortages and refusule to assign extra OJT (on the job trainers) to assist training. Other then that, the pay is awesome, benefits vary by union, the places to go, things to do are awesome! You spent your first months in a training facility either in Homewood IL or Winnipeg MB to learn.

(To be clear from the outset, there are definitely good people working at CN Rail.  Unfortunately, almost none of them are in management.)

CN brings an exciting 19th-century mindset to the 21st-century job market!  
As a working-class employee you will serve as an entirely disposable cog in the corporate machine as it railroads its way through pristine water sources and across the pockmarked Canadian landscape.  
Any and every small mistake you make will be treated with the utmost attention, guaranteeing plenty of quality time with every supervisor within discernible cell range.
Don't sweat it though, because no matter how badly anyone screws up the share prices will just keep climbing, leaving no substantial reason for anything to ever change in the way things are done on Canada's National Railroad.  

Innovation!  Every month brings a new way for management to track exactly where you have been and what you have done. 

Dedication!  Once you buy that lifted truck you've been eyeing up you're basically locked in for life.

Self-Preservation! Hint: it helps if you're jaded before you even start.

Looking for a career that is sure to leave an irremovable mark on your soul? Then look no further than CN Rail!

With CN Rail it has been a great place to work this far. The environment has been a little bit on the Toxic side due to backlash with some of the management changes and changes to how CN is running things inside of the shop. Management is trying to change the culture in the shop to work steady and produce quality work safely while giving full respect to each other. Some people are immune to thinking anything that involves the word "change". Other than the environment right now it is a good career path. You get your schedule so you can plan for your days off, you get 2 weeks vacation per year to start, you get great benefits, stock options and paid training in Winnipeg's CN Campus. Management doesn't push you to get things done very fast as they prefer having quality and reliability with their services then getting a Locomotive out of the shop and having it break down 5 miles down the track. Sure at first you have to deal with Seniority and working nights for approximately 5 years but after that it's gold! You will have work stability as long as you strive to get better at your job and work by the book safely. Lastly you get to be home with your family every day and nothing beats that when you've worked out of town for ages!

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Conductor 22 salaries reported	$95,091 per year
Intern 6 salaries reported	$29.33 per hour
Conducteur de train routier 1 salary reported	$85,000 per year
Project manager 6 salaries reported	$110,667 per year
Engineer 3 salaries reported	$130,000 per year

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