VIA Rail Canada audit report: Delays, CN dispute, board gaps

A new VIA Rail Canada audit report from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada says the passenger operator should improve service and address several internal management practices. At the same time, the report still describes the company as generally well managed.

What the VIA Rail Canada audit report says about delays?

One key constraint identified in the Auditor General report VIA Rail Canada is infrastructure control. The audit notes that VIA owns only about 3% of the track it uses. Also, it points out that passenger trains priority over freight traffic is not provided under Canadian law, meaning VIA trains are often required to yield to freight movements. The report says this can lead to substantial delays and reduce service reliability, as outlined in coverage by Trains.com.

In addition, the audit lays out why adjusting service can be complicated when so many assets are owned by others. VIA’s dealings with third-party track owners and service agreements cover major stations in Montreal and Toronto and large portions of track run by freight railroads.

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Any proposed service change — including additional frequencies — requires renegotiation. Host owners can also set rules and restrictions that shape operations.

CN speed restrictions and the Canadian Transport Agency dispute

The report describes serious friction in at least one relationship with a third-party owner. While it does not identify Canadian National by name, it outlines a situation consistent with VIA’s dispute with CN, which operates most of the third-party trackage VIA relies on. Meanwhile, the audit notes that VIA asked the Canadian Transport Agency to impose a new service agreement in 2023, and that more than a year later it still had not been resolved.

Still, the report ties recent performance problems to operational limits imposed by the host. It indicates that CN speed restrictions on VIA’s Siemens Venture trainsets, introduced over grade-crossing activation issues, have “a significant impact on VIA’s on-time performance,” and that VIA has pursued court action while the restrictions remain in place; the broader dispute and delays have also been reported by Railway Supply.

On-time performance decline and management findings

Given these constraints, the audit says VIA could not improve service under the conditions described, even as punctuality worsened sharply. It reports that VIA Rail on-time performance fell as low as 30% in the first quarter of 2025. The document warns that declining punctuality raises the risk of passengers shifting to other modes, threatens revenue targets, and undermines VIA’s ability to meet its strategic objectives.

The audit’s management assessment is generally positive, but it identifies several governance and planning gaps. It says VIA’s board largely fulfilled its responsibilities, yet did not complete a required self-assessment. It also says the board needs stronger controls for expense policies and did not fully resolve all conflict-of-interest circumstances. The report further states that the board did not approve the CEO’s objectives in 2025 and did not submit those objectives to the Minister of Transport.

Separately, the audit says VIA performed reasonably well on strategic planning and performance measurement, but lacked a talent management planning process for non-executive staff. It also says VIA’s sustainability results were flawed because the sustainability goals were not well-defined. In its response, VIA agreed with the governance and planning assessments and said it has already addressed some issues or will do so.

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