Continued interruption of VIA Rail services leads to temporary layoffs of management, professional employees

Effective Aug. 14, VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) will lay off 30 management and professional employees as the impact of the current pandemic continues to be felt in the passenger transportation industry across Canada.

This measure is in addition to retirements and vacant positions that will not be filled, which brings the total of impacted positions to 80.

Although VIA Rail says it has recently seen a slight increase in ridership, with added departures in some of its markets, several routes remain suspended and it becomes imperative that measures be taken to diligently reduce the financial impact of the current crisis on the organization, such as hiring freezes and reduced work schedules for teams.

"VIA Rail is not immune to the current reality. As with all passenger carriers, the pandemic continues to have a major impact on our operations with ridership not showing any significant recovery at the national level. We are making difficult decisions to lessen the financial impact and safeguard the funds we have been allocated.  I realize that this is a very difficult situation for affected employees and their families, and we look forward to calling them back once the recovery is underway," said Cynthia Garneau, President and CEO, VIA Rail.

VIA Rail says its focus over the next few months is to advance its service resumption plan within prescribed health and safety requirements to get its employees back to work as soon as possible.