Canada’s Federal Court of Appeals on Oct. 4, 2024, dismissed a lower court’s ruling halting CN’s construction of an intermodal terminal, the C$250 million Milton Logistics Hub, in the GTHA (Greater Toronto Hamilton Area). A three-judge panel found that the federal government’s decision allowing CN to build the terminal despite “adverse environmental effects” was reasonable. The Supreme Court of Canada on May 8, 2025, declined to hear an appeal request.
In March 2024, the Court of Appeals set aside the federal government’s approval, issued in January 2021, and referred the project back to Ottawa for reconsideration. On May 13, the Court of Appeals issued a stay, allowing CN to continue work. The lower court’s decision had highlighted health concerns about air quality, pointing to the 800 diesel-powered trucks that would make daily round trips to the terminal, to be located on CN’s Halton Subdivision. The Court’s Oct. 4 decision determined that the government gave approval following consideration to protecting human health, in line with environmental legislation.
Court of Appeals Justice George Locke said in May that while halting work would not affect CN’s long-term viability, any delay would be “detrimental to the public interest … The harmful effects of construction emissions appear to be outweighed by the costs to CN of suspending its construction activities, and more important, the public interest in the completion of the project.”
The project’s initial 2021 approval included 325 acceptance conditions, among them Federal Parliamentary Cabinet approval, which made it Canada’s most stringently regulated intermodal logistics hub. The facility, including a rail yard with more than 12 miles of track, is being built in “a provincially designated significant employment zone” on 400 of the 1,000 acres of land owned by CN east of Tremaine Road and south of Britannia Road in Milton, adjacent to the Halton Subdivision. Major project components include an administration building, maintenance garage for terminal equipment and areas for short-term container storage; realignment and extension of the existing main line; a 1.7-kilometer (1-mile) truck entrance road and queuing area on CN property; an employee entrance off Tremaine Road; an underpass at Lower Base Line “to maintain traffic flow and facilitate east-west passage for all vehicles including emergency vehicles”; berms and barriers in strategic locations, planted with native Ontario vegetation “to blend with the surrounding environment and reduce off-site noise and visual effects”; and a stormwater management system “designed to capture and treat all terminal water runoff.”
Almost immediately after the 2021 decision, CN began preparatory work: demolishing structures, extending and relocating tracks, building on-site infrastructure and grade separating a local roadway. “Expected to open by September 2026, according to a CN March 2023 construction schedule, the [March 1, 2024] Canadian Federal Court decision effectively rejects the Federal Cabinet’s approval of the project and sends it back to the federal government for re-evaluation,” Stephen C. Host reported March 4, 2024, for Railway Age. “Key to the decision was the ‘direct adverse environmental effects on health’ that were found to not be considered by the Federal Cabinet, plus the Minister of Environment and Climate Change in the January 2021 approval failed to make public any documents, justification or reasons related to the direct adverse environmental effects.”
CN on March 4 released the following statement: “While still reviewing a federal court’s decision related to the Milton Logistics Hub, CN is reiterating its commitment to the Milton Logistics Hub. The project is a critical piece of infrastructure in Canada’s busiest and fastest growing region, where new capacity is needed to meet the growing demand for goods. The Milton Logistics Hub will not only benefit Ontario, but further strengthen the Canadian economy and its strategic advantages. Authorization to build the project was subject to Canada’s most extensive environmental review process resulting in an approval including 325 conditions designed to protect both the community and the environment.” The railroad noted that the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area “is one of Canada’s fastest growing regions and the Milton Logistics Hub is critical to handle the growing demand for household goods, consumer products, and other necessities of day-to-day life.”
The Canadian Press on May 8 reported the Supreme Court of Canada “dismissed an appeal request that sought to halt [Milton Logistics Hub] construction … paving the way for the project to proceed.” It noted that “the justices gave no reasons for their decision, as is typical when parties ask permission to appeal to the top court.”
Advocacy group Milton Says No released the following statement via Facebook on May 8: “Today, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear Halton Region’s appeal of the federal government’s approval of the CN Milton intermodal terminal. We are disappointed, but not surprised. The Supreme Court grants leave to appeal in only about 5 to 10 per cent of cases. We always knew this was a long shot. This decision does not validate the project, and it does not end our fight. The CN terminal was approved by an Order in Council, which is a political instrument, and the federal government still has full legal authority to repeal that approval at any time. This responsibility now rests squarely with Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Cabinet. The courts may have reached the end of their role, but the government’s ability and duty to act remains. The federal review panel concluded that this project would cause significant and unmitigable harm to human health. That finding should have stopped this project from moving forward. Instead, it was ignored. Now, with legal options exhausted, political leadership is essential. We are not walking away. We have fought this for 11 years. We have delayed this project. We have forced national attention and pushed for mitigations that would not have existed without relentless community pressure. CN is building at its own risk. The federal government can still stop this. We are calling on our newly elected MPs, on Prime Minister Carney, and on Cabinet—repeal the approval. Protect our community. Uphold your own environmental findings. Do what the courts cannot. This is about public health, planning, and justice for all Canadian communities. And to our supporters—we want you to know that if and when the time comes to shift our focus, to reframe our fight, we will be the first to say so. But that time is not now. Together we are strongest. Our fight continues.”
Railway Age Executive Editor Marybeth Luczak contributed to this report.
