Company’s decision will “gut the town,” according to a union spokesperson

CN is pulling out of Jasper. 

The railroad corporation will be closing its crew change facility in Jasper, the company has announced. 

The news was emailed to Jasper-based employees by Nicole James, Vice President of Transportation in CN’s Western Region on Monday, September 16, 2024.

“CN has made the decision to implement operational changes to improve network fluidity between Edmonton and Blue River/McBride,” the letter states. “Effective September 1, 2025, current Jasper-based employees will report for work in the Hinton-Dalehurst area.”

The move will affect hundreds of Jasper railroaders who have built their lives here. Ray Donegan, General Chairperson for Conductors, Tradespersons and Yardmen (CTY) of Western Canada, said the company’s decision will “gut the town.”

“Our members are at a loss,” he said. “I’m very disappointed.”

The union leader added that the news, delivered less than two months after a wildfire in Jasper destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands of residents, couldn’t come at a worse time.

“People are just starting to look at getting back to normal then they drop this,” Donegan said.

Spokesperson for CN, Ashley Michnowski, said that the company made the decision to minimize train stops between Edmonton and Blue River.

“While we do not anticipate any changes to take effect until September of 2025 at the earliest, it was important for us to have these conversations now,” she said.

Donegan says he rejects the idea that moving the terminal will make the line more efficient. Since July 30, CN employees have been reporting to work to Hinton, but Donegan says the temporary agreement has made trains less-efficient, not more.

“I refute this will have any operational efficiencies,” he said.

Approximately 200 Jasper residents work as transportation employees (engineers and conductors), according to a CN employee roster obtained by The Jasper Local. Donegan’s rough estimate of employees affected by the decision was about the same. He said moving the terminal out of Jasper will turn the lives of those employees, and their families, upside down. And for those who lost their home in the wildfire and are currently waiting to rebuild, the uncertainty is even more acute. 

“Are they going to rebuild? How are they going to take an insurance policy buyout without a big loss? The company has no idea how it’s going to work,” Donegan said.

For those CNers who are single, or whose spouses don’t work due to the unpredictable schedule of a railroader, moving their work out of town will mean they may no longer qualify under Jasper National Park’s Eligible Residency clause. 

“If people have to move because they can’t meet that clause…it’s going to cost the company more money. 

“They haven’t thought this out,” Donegan said.

CN’s Jasper bunkhouse was impacted, but not destroyed, by the Jasper Wildfire Complex on July 24. Donegan said the company was communicating with the union about when the bunkhouse might come back online when the news broke that the facility would instead be closing.

“I’m heartbroken,” he said. “Jasper is a special place.”

Donegan said the union will continue to work to mitigate the adverse affects of this decision for its members.

The company has said it is committed to supporting its employees.

“We are committed to supporting our employees through this transition and updating them on the progress of this change,” Michnowski said.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com