LOCATION: National
ISSUE/SOURCE: Duty and Rest Period Rules changes to operating employee conditions
DATE: May 2025
SUGGESTED RESPONSES
- Transport Canada is committed to protecting all Canadians who live and work along rail lines by putting in place the necessary measures to reduce the risk of serious accidents.
- Transport Canada approved the Duty and Rest Period Rules for railway operating employees in 2020.
- The provisions of the Duty and Rest Period Rules that affect maximum work periods and minimum rest periods came into force for freight railways in May 2023, and for passenger railways in November 2024.
- The new rules require freight railway companies to restrict duty periods for operating employees, namely locomotive engineers and conductors.
- The rules reflect the latest in fatigue science and are intended to guard against cumulative fatigue and reduce probability of human errors leading to rail accidents.
- The new rules contain several significant improvements over the old rules including:
- Reduction in the maximum length of a duty period from 16 hours to 12 hours;
- New limits on total work hours: 60 hours per 7-day period; 192 hours per 28-day period; and
- Longer rest periods between shifts.
- Transport Canada rail safety inspectors monitor compliance with the rules, and if non-compliance or a safety concern is found, the Department will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action.
- Transport Canada continues to work with industry and labour to identify measures to improve fatigue management and take action on this important safety issue.
IF PRESSED
On a Federal Court Judicial Review Application filed by one company
- I am aware of an application for judicial review filed by one railway company regarding the refusal to grant an exemption from the Duty and Rest Period Rules for Railway Operating Employees.
- While I cannot comment on active litigation, I can tell you that I am committed to safe railway operation and addressing safety risks caused by fatigue.
- Transport Canada continues to work with railway companies and unions to improve fatigue management and take action on this important safety issue.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
- In 2018, the Railway Safety Act Review Panel recommended that Transport Canada (TC) take a leadership role with respect to fatigue in the railway industry and regulate “prescriptive minimum criteria and non-prescriptive measures based on fatigue science”.
- From the early 1990s until mid-2022, the Transportation Safety Board has made findings or issued safety messages about sleep related fatigue in 32 rail occurrences. The issue of fatigue management in rail operations has been on the Transportation Safety Board Watchlist since 2016.
- In December 2018, Transport Canada instructed railway companies to revise the Work/Rest Rules for Railway Operating Employees to reflect the latest in fatigue science and fatigue management practices.
- After extensive consultations with labour unions, the industry submitted the Duty and Rest Period Rules for Railway Operating Employees DRPR) on September 11, 2020, which were approved by TC on November 25, 2020, with a phased-in coming into force period.
- In the fall/winter of 2022 and 2023, prior to the coming into force of the new Duty and Rest Period Rules for Railway Operating Employees, Transport Canada had considerable interaction with railways and labour unions regarding questions of interpretation.
- Transport Canada has issued guidance to assist in interpretation of the Duty and Rest Period Rules and continues to monitor compliance through oversight activities.
- Since the rules came into force, Transport Canada has received inquiries from railway operating employees around the calculation of how long they can work and when they must take rest. There have also been a small number of complaints stating the new rules limit the flexibility when employees can work and will therefore affect their income. Transport Canada continues to follow up on these issues as part of its ongoing compliance oversight.