A Canadian Pacific Signal Maintainer stands on a signal bridge - Date unknown Canadian Pacfic.

19 April 2011

CPR Hiring 1,500 Across Country as Shipping Ramps Up

Calgary Alberta - If you love the outdoors and have always wanted to hit the rails, Canadian Pacific may have a job for you.
 
Canada's iconic railway hopes to hire about 1,500 future conductors, locomotive engineers, railcar, diesel mechanics, and rail traffic controllers across Canada this spring. Some 300 of those jobs will be in Alberta, including about 100 in the Edmonton to Red Deer region.
 
"We are responding to the shipping needs of our customers, and are ramping up resources across our network," spokesman Ed Greenberg said.
 
The hiring push comes after 1,500 staff who were laid off in the recession of 2009 returned to work in 2010.
 
CPR, Canada's second-largest rail carrier, is headquartered in Calgary and has about 3,600 Alberta employees, mostly in the southern half of the province. There are 275 employees in the Edmonton region.
 
The new full time jobs are in addition to 400 seasonal track-maintenance jobs the railway hopes to fill.
 
"This is an exciting time to be in the railroad industry," said Greenberg, who added the railway is committing $1 billion to capital projects in 2011, including $680 million for basic track infrastructure renewal, and $200 million for network enhancements.
 
"These are not office jobs. They are for the outdoorsy type of person, because the reality is railroading is an outdoor industry for most jobs."
 
All jobs required a minimum of high school graduation, but the company hires people with a variety of experience and education ranging from high school diplomas to university and college degrees. They also receive up to six months of company training.
 
Greenberg says the jobs cover the breadth of railroad operations and are well-paid.
 
Conductors, who are in charge of switching cars and making up trains, earn up to $80,000 a year. Many conductors move on to the engine cab and become engineers, with salaries up to $100,000.
 
Rail-car mechanics and diesel mechanics are paid up to $65,000 a year to service and maintain equipment.
 
Rail traffic controllers, who earn up to $80,000 a year, are like air traffic controllers, they manage the safe movements of trains and equipment.
 
In its most recent financial report, released in late January, CPR reported a 27 percent increase in fourth-quarter profits and a 13 percent increase in revenue across all lines of business, led by sulphur and fertilizers.
 
The railway anticipates strong demand in 2011.
 
After the release of the January figures, David Tyerman, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said the call for natural resources from emerging markets should drive volume on Canada's second-largest rail carrier.
 
"The really critical thing is, I think the demand will be there," he said, "because the economy's expanding and that's a big backdrop for railroads. And demand from emerging markets is good for some of the products that they ship."
 
Those commodities include potash, coal, forest products, and grain, Tyerman said.
 
Dave Cooper.