ferronnier

operator

chef d’équipe ferroviaire

conductor

terminal operator

Cando Rail & Terminals

I enjoyed my work at Cando, though there were a lot of things that would leave an employee wanting as far as what their mission goal and motto would leave one to believe.
To start, this company has a good heart at base. It wants to take care of the employees. It wants to strive towards safety culture and a better place of employment. I full heartedly believe this company will do well in the long haul.
However, from my experience from the sites that I have been to and the experience I can pull from past coworkers... This company fails miserably in a steady training plan.
From a transportation set up, when the company takes over a new contract, a lot of employees are hired from the previous contractor that was on site. This is not a bad thing. The bad thing is that the employees that are brought on to evaluate and train the new hires are just people who are hard workers, not necessarily good workers. They aren't expected to train, merely to sit back and evaluate. I had the opportunity to do this, but when I went to the new facility I was just pushed into a position to do the work rather than to teach and to evaluate workers. When I was being onboarded, my 'evaluators' were as non-compliant with rules as some of the people that were being onboarded. 
In the short story, this is a bad thing for these sites. But in time, I believe that the company will do away with them and have employees that care and are passionate about safety (eventually).
As far as management, you will encounter a wide variety of supervisors that range from those who don't know how to do the job at all to those who continually struggle to learn more and be a stronger force out in the fields. Again, I believe that the company will eventually do away with the ones who are poor for the program and have stronger roles in the future.
In the short, older operations would most likely be better and newer operations are to be treaded lightly upon.
My tldr; Cando will be a great employer. It will be a great company to work for. But if you're mainly concerned with your safety and your training starting into this type of work force, I would consider other operations for the time being.

If you read an ad for conductor/switchperson for Vaughan/Klienberg/Bolton, there are some things you need to know.

First, and, foremost, the ad is a 200 ton hopper car filled with 300 tons of bull----. 

"Employee owned" (stocks).  Yes, at other locations. Not at this terminal. 

"Pension plan", yes, at other locations. Not at this terminal.

Your shifts are 12 hours. 6am to 6pm. 6pm to 6am. Every other month you switch from days to nights. 

You work: Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday Sunday, one week.  The next you work Wednesday, Thursday.

The pay is $20 for training. $28 once "qualified".

The staff are, for the most part, nice. They are just horrendous gossips. It goes on for hours every day. I am sure if I held a mirror over my shoulder, I'd find a few knives stuck in my back as well.  They probably think I am an anti social jerk because I didn't join in the roasting of people I had never met, and, who weren't there to defend themselves. 

The supervisor is weak, and, not respected by the staff, or, higher management.  The place is chronically understaffed because he refuses to hire people with no experience, but, also won't hire anyone with more experience than him, because as stated earlier, he is weak, and, afraid someone new will outshine him (most do anyhow).

Training of new employees is all over the place, with no consistency, and, absolutely ZERO oversight from the "supervisor".  As a result, a trainee could be taught to speak Dutch, and, juggle bowling pins with their feet, and the "supervisor" wouldn't even know.

My advice is to current employees:  if you don't like the job, or your co-workers;  quit.

Advice to management: Get rid of the place holder you have sitting in the big boy chair, and, replace him with someone who as a clue, and, a pulse.

Advice to prospective employees of this location:  if you think this place will be a minor league stepping stone to a big league (class 1 railway) job, think again. The experience you will recieve there will not transfer to a class 1.  That is not to say you can't get hired by a class 1 after working there, just don't expect your time in this bush league outfit to count for much. 

In a nut shell, it was a waste of time

No lunch breaks, no chance to stop for a warm meal, no facility to warm up meals, bathroom, non stop switching at multiple facilities, high employee turnover. New hires have on the job training and thrown straight in the deep end. They preach safety, but basically turn their back and hope for the best until Mosaic gets involved. Used to brag they have a schedule compared to class 1 rail companies but constantly have to call employees on days off to work overtime. Many employees from other railroads, some great people working out there but the company as a whole is a small worm on a big hook and can't keep up with the demand. Ancient equipment, crews usually have to fend for themselves and put a band aid on equipment. Crews are always late getting off their trains or assignments then forced to do car inventory that could be done by the supervising staff. No pension plan, minimal benefits, no incentives, some luke warm pizza on occasion. PPE and seasonal clothing are provided. The employees are the only good thing about Cando, but they all see the writing on the wall lately and know it isn't a company providing a lengthy career with a silver lining.If you feel the class 1 railroads can be unfair or unjust then wait til you work for Cando, or better yet just don't. 

My career with Cando started with them lying to me about pay structure and paying me 4$ an hour less than i was promised in my interview...so needless to say it started on the wrong foot and went downhill from there. Management is absolutely clueless when it comes to allocating their workforce so expect to be pulled off your job repeatedly and onto something else...then chewed out for not hitting production numbers. one day i asked for a key for a derail as i had not been issued one..despite asking daily for a month... my foreman never even brought me one i wound up having to drive around the refinery for almost 2 hours asking other crews if they had a spare. I think the worst i saw while i worked there was when a supervisor was called because an employee was having an allergic reaction to peanuts not only did this supervisor not even call onsite EMS to come get this guy he had no clue where to take him for medical attention AND made him spot his pickup truck while going into anaphylactic shock...luckily he was ok. If you feel like working for an absolute gong show circus for the lowest wages in the rail industry by all means apply otherwise i'd steer clear.

I've worked 35 years at a class ! railroad before retiring from there. I've in my 5th year here at Cando and love the environment that management promotes.
They are flexible with the work-life balance which is one of the great things here.
The railroad contracting world here is very rewarding.
We take a idea, run with it, make it come to life and get a great sense of pride seeing it come to fruition.
Check out our sturgeon rail terminal in fort Saskatchewan in  Alberta.
We started with 300 acres of bare land and now a 3800 car railyard sits there servicing the area.
After 35 years i knew a lot about railroading but working here and interacting with other great knowledgeable personnel has been so rewarding.
The sky is the limit at Cando as we are a company on the rise in the Canadian rail industry.
Come check us out, we have multiple divisions across Canada and we are looking for people to join our Team.



Most people are under qualified to the point that you're scared to work with them. There's only one good supervisor there that has common sense the rest are out to get you for at risk behaviors that they claim don't go against you until they want to suspend you, they throw them all back at you. This is a wannabe class 1 work environment at half of the wage. Would highly recommend just going to cn. Upper management has no idea how bad the place is run. Benefits are the worst I've ever had and there's no pension or rrsp program. You're supposed to rely on Candos share program for retirement when one major incident would put this company under. Everyone gets paid the same even though you have to pick up the slack for the ones that don't know how to do the job or keep having incidents. Every time there's an incident cando plays a finger pointing game with their employees or mosaic no one can take accountability when something happens. There's no incentive to show up and try. Definitely a company I wouldn't recommend working for. Worst thing I did was leave Cn


No support from management. High demands, skeleton crews. You will be doing 4 jobs and training new workers at the same time often with zero experience who in turn get rushed training. Creating a circle of rushed training when new workers come aboard because the turn over rate is very high. 

Workers are mostly good with lots of tension and built up frustration due to the poor management. 

Lots of turnover in management and staff.

Lots of incidents due to rushed training and high stress. No accountability from management. Creates a dangerous environment.

Mostly unprofessional supervisors that create a high school like drama.

If you require assistance in any aspect of your job there is a high chance you will be left to figure it out on your own due to poor supervision.

If you have zero experience you will be hired regardless. Decent wage for new workers. You will be trained to do everything because they can't keep staff. Good experience for future jobs. Stepping stone for sure.

By allowing me to prove my abilities and receive encouragement by senior management is exceptional.  It creates a great environment to work in... employees are brothers... not union brothers... big difference.... nothing worse than competing for praise... everyone is equal... Cando has proven to me that being in both environments with the same procedures... Cando is a preferred preference... if you are gifted with a friendship attitude and want to make friends and not just money... hop the Cando Engine and enjoy the ride... Toot Toot.. Cando and the employees..are a company that always made me on board with there goals.. Pats on the back are a given... if u have  an opportunity to get involved with this company.. reach out to me.. I'll perk your ears and you'll understand why... good luck getting hired... I did 

If you're someone who is interested in having time off, earning great pay, great benefits with a pension plan, and looking to climb the company ladder through internal advancement, then this isn't the place for you.

This isn't the worst place to work, and the job really isn't that bad. The issue is that there isn't much in terms of satisfaction and you do the same thing every single day; same tracks, same customer, same places, and it isn't meaningful work.. The company you're contracted for wants you working 24/7-no breaks. 

Management is hit and miss: some days they're good, others not so much.

Two good things about this place: LOTS of overtime if you want it, and they are VERY flexible with scheduling, and your co-workers are usually really good with helping you out with coverage. 

Hamilton and Milton locations are nothing but a revolving door.  Employees get trained and usually quit or get terminated. They preach safety, safety, safety yet when they need something done safety goes out the window. They will want you to purchase company shares and congratulate you on being a company owner but that means nothing at all. If you are willing to work at these locations I would strongly recommend that you start a union. The locations have only a few employees so you only need have the crew to agree to a unionized location.  You will have to pay dues and no longer be eligible to buy shares but your buying job security. If you want a job that provides work, life and balance then avoid working for Cando Rail Services. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Ferronnier 13 salaries reported	$24.42 per hour
Operator 11 salaries reported	$31.91 per hour
Chef d’équipe ferroviaire 9 salaries reported	$26.78 per hour
Conductor 7 salaries reported	$35.11 per hour
Terminal operator 5 salaries reported	$32.20 per hour

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