What it does: It offers transportation services and supply chain expertise with access to 8 major ports and several markets across North America.
Mission: the Canadian Pacific Railway’s purpose is to deliver transportation solutions that connect North America and the world.
Size and presence: It owns around 20,100 kilometers (12,500 miles) of track in seven provinces of Canada and the United States. With such a huge presence, it employs approximately 11,904 employees to take care of all job roles.
Best known for: It was Canada’s first transcontinental railway and provided the means to ship bulk quantities of merchandise freight, commodities, and intermodal traffic across North America.
The good bits: Canadian Pacific Railway creates many job opportunities for candidates willing to work with railways. Over half of its freight traffic is in grain, coal, and intermodal freight and its majority of profit comes from western Canada.
The not-so-good bits: Railway jobs are often challenging given that employees can be allotted different shifts instead of a fixed schedule. Also, most jobs require a lot of traveling which means minimal social life or family time.
The Canadian Pacific Railway is a Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and it is owned by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. The main office is located in Calgary, Alberta and the railway owns around 20,100 kilometers of track. The track stretched from Montreal to Vancouver, and as far as Edmonton. It also serves Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago, Detroit, and Albany, New York in the United States.
Canadian Pacific Railway was first built between eastern Canada and British Columbia between 1881 and 1885. It was the result of a commitment made to British Columbia and connected Ottawa Valley and Georgian Bay area lines built earlier. In 1871, the railway entered Confederation and became Canada’s first transcontinental railway. It was the only practical means of long-distance transportation at that time in most regions of Canada.
Talking about the acquisitions, Canadian Pacific Railway acquired two American lines in 2009: the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad and the Lowa, Chicago, and Eastern Railroad. As of early 2022, the company had plans to acquire the Kansas City Southern Railway.
The special trains of the Canadian Pacific Railway were silk trains, funeral trains, royal trains, Better Farming Train, school cars, Silver Streak, Holiday Train, Royal Canadian Pacific, stream train, Spirit Train, and CP Canada 150 Train. Moreover, CP owns a large number of yards and repair shops across its system.
CP is an operating company with a diverse culture and has community-minded railroaders and dedicated professionals. Its culture is guided by three core values: diversity, accountability, and pride. Also, it motivates women to come and take jobs at the forefront as well as in professional roles. Women are an integral part of Canadian Pacific Railway’s diverse workforce.
The company strives to create a work environment that promotes diversity and inclusion. It also incorporates accessible and universal design principles into the construction of new buildings to offer easy accessibility. Disability education is an important aspect of CP’s culture and employees are encouraged to assist everyone without discrimination and biases.
Interested candidates can apply through the company’s website after checking out all the listed jobs. The selection process is quite intense and a multi-step process. It includes one one-way video interview and Zoom interviews that are followed by two assessments. The selected candidates are called for further tests depending on the type of role.
The recruitment process may take an average of 40 days as so many candidates apply for different job titles. Candidates can check the company’s official website for current openings and eligibility criteria.
Canadian Pacific Railway offers a variety of career options in different departments as it serves many markets. The main markets that Canadian Pacific Railway serves include automotive, energy, coal, ethanol, fertilizer & potash, food products, forest products, industrial products, grain, intermodal containers, sulfur, oversized & dimensional, and wind energy components.
With operations in many fields, it provides employment opportunities to both experienced professionals and recent graduates. There are also opportunities for interns who want to learn new experiences.
The average estimated Canadian Pacific Railway employee’s salary ranges from around $66,000 per year for an Equipment Operator to $211,000 per year for General Manager. The job titles that get a decent amount of remuneration include Senior Systems Engineers, Chief clerks, Computer Security Specialists, and Business Analysts.
In 2021, Canadian Pacific Railway honored the survivors of residential schools through Orange Shirt Day and Canada’s First National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It also raised more than $400,000 at the fourth annual Spin for a Veteran event. The fund will be used to build affordable housing for homeless veterans via the Homes for Heroes Foundation.
Moreover, CP announced its first comprehensive climate strategy to protect the environment. The strategy is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing the risks of climate change. In response to the pandemic, CP is proactively monitoring the situation while the trains continue to operate throughout North America and the U.S. - Canada border.
The Pacific Scandal (1872-73) was the first major political controversy in Canada. It dates back to April 1873 when Prime Minister Sir John A. Mcdonald and senior members were accused of accepting election funds from Sir Hugh Allan, a Shipping magnate. He was accused of accepting election funds in exchange for the contract to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. It even led to Macdonald resigning as prime minister in November 1873.