Trains across the country have ground to a halt as 9,300 workers were locked out by Canada’s two main rail operators after they failed to agree on a new contract by a 12:01 a.m. deadline.
This is the first simultaneous work stoppage at Canadian National Railway Company and Canadian Pacific Kansas City.
According to the Railway Association of Canada, the work stoppage halts about $1 billion in freight traffic per day, some of which was stopped preemptively to prevent freight from being backed up in the event of a work stoppage.
Transit officials said some commuter lines that use Canadian Pacific tracks in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver would be suspended.
Business groups have called on the government to intervene by imposing compulsory arbitration and banning strikes and lockouts during the process.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on both sides to reach an agreement at the negotiating table.
Affected sectors include agriculture, mining, energy, retail, automotive and construction.
Ports fear that containers will pile up on docks while goods are not being transported, causing traffic jams along the line and prompting some carriers to divert to U.S. terminals.
More than 32,000 rail users across the country will also have to find new routes to get to the office.
The lines affected by the potential work stoppage are TransLink’s West Coast Express in the Vancouver area, Metrolinx’s Milton Line and Hamilton GO Station on the Lakeshore Line in the Greater Toronto Area, and Exo’s Candiac, Saint-Jérôme and Vaudreuil/Hudson lines in the Montreal area.