New Changes To Railway Worker Training And Certification

Aug 6, 2026 - yesterday

New changes to strengthen training and certification standards in the federally regulated rail sector will help to reduce the risk of workplace injuries, improve the safety of the railway operations, and ultimately reduce rail incidents and accidents.

The Railway Personnel Training and Qualifications Regulations have been published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, and will come into effect in two years' time. These new regulations will replace the Railway Employees Qualification Standards Regulations, which came into force in 1987.

Highlights from the new regulations include:

The list of positions that are designated as critical for safe railway operations is being expanded to include remote control locomotive operators and rail traffic controllers.
The training requirements for somebody to be certified to work in a safety critical position are being expanded and clarified.
Crew Resource Management is being added to the required training for railway workers, which is a set of practices that uses all available resources to ensure safe operations.
Anybody who has less than two years of experience in a safety critical position must have access at all times to somebody who has more experience and expertise.
Railway companies will need to have records for each person's training, examinations, and evaluations.
Railway operations have evolved over time, due to new technologies, smaller crew sizes, accelerated training, and other factors. Regulations related to these operations also need to evolve.

Canada maintains one of the safest rail transportation systems in the world, thanks to collaboration among many partners, but railway operations can be inherently dangerous. Transport Canada is committed to enhancing railway safety operations for communities near railway lines, as well as anybody who lives and works near railway corridors.

Source: Transport Canada