Federal funding available for rail crossing upgrades

All existing federally-regulated railway crossings must meet the requirements of the Grade Crossing Regulation by November 28, 2021. This regulation aims to improve safety at Canada’s 14,000 public grade crossings by:

• using engineering best practices to make sure all users can have a safe crossing experience;
• putting in place clear and enforceable safety standards for new and existing crossings; and
• defining the roles and responsibilities of road authorities and railway companies.

As road authorities, municipalities may have responsibilities to share safety-related information with railways that cross public roads and may need to make changes to comply with the regulation. Transport Canada has a webpage regarding the regulation available here.

Transport Canada also has funding under the Railway Safety Act for eligible costs related to improving and closing crossings. The Rail Safety Improvement Program (RSIP) gives funding in the form of grants and contributions to improve rail safety and reduce injuries and deaths related to rail transportation.

For more information on how to apply for funding, visit the RSIP website, or contact the Transport Canada RSIP via tc.rsipitr-pasfitr.tc [at] tc.gc.ca (email.)

Canadian National Railway Grade Crossing Regulations Inquiries: rainfosharing [at] cn.ca (rainfosharing[at]cn[dot]ca)

Canadian Pacific Railway Grade Crossing Regulations Inquiries: crossing_compliance [at] cpr.ca (crossing_compliance[at]cpr[dot]ca)

If you have any further questions or concerns on this topic, please contact Clint Neufeld, Policy Analyst, at cneufeld [at] auma.ca (cneufeld[at]auma[dot]ca)