Cando Rail Sturgeon Terminal

On Tuesday, December 17th, 2019, Cando Rail Services Executives together with Sturgeon County Council, CAO and staff and partners from Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association (AIHA) hosted industry stakeholders, senior public sector and elected officials at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald to announce that construction had begun on the Cando Sturgeon Terminal.

This investment marks a major milestone for Cando Rail Services, Sturgeon County and Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. The majority of the value-added products produced in the Heartland, Canada’s largest hydrocarbon processing region, are shipped to national and global consumers by rail. Cando’s investment will increase market access and allow industrial facilities in the Heartland to concentrate on their core business, while partnering with Cando to access increased transportation and logistics solutions. World-class rail infrastructure will further enhance the competitiveness of Sturgeon County and Alberta’s Industrial Heartland for petrochemical, downstream energy and heavy industrial investment.

“The undertaking of our newest terminal in Sturgeon County is a defining moment for Cando Rail Services,” Brian Cornick, the company’s president and CEO, said in a release. “This terminal will allow us to expand our nation-wide logistics planning network, thereby enabling greater movement of Canada’s resources in a key industrial hub of the country.”

“We have so many companies that utilize rail to get their product out,” said Tyler Westover, Manager of Economic Development for Sturgeon County, adding rail was vital in a landlocked province like Alberta. Westover said this rail yard should create construction jobs, help Sturgeon companies get their products to market faster, and make the Heartland more attractive to investors. 

The yard will have about 47 km of track when built with more planned in future phases, Cornick said. The yard will have one big loop around the outside connected to a bunch of long, straight, parallel segments inside the loop. Crews will use these lines to store and shuffle around up to 1,900 rail cars at a time before hauling them to the nearby CN rail terminal for transport to the Gulf Coast, Vancouver, and other centres.