VIA Rail Canada has reached tentative agreements with the Unifor union representing 2,400 employees working in its stations, on board its trains, in its maintenance centres, the VIA Customer Centre, and administrative offices.

These tentative agreements are subject to a ratification vote by VIA Rail's Unifor members.

Once ratified, the collective agreements will be retroactive to January 1, 2022, and in effect through December 31, 2024. Details of the agreements will only be released following ratification by members.

"VIA Rail is pleased to have negotiated these agreements and recognizes the hard work of both parties during this process," said Martin R Landry, President and Chief Executive Officer.

"We sympathize with the passengers and communities whose plans have been impacted in the past couple of days due to the uncertainty caused by this potential strike. As we look forward to ratification, these tentative agreements allow our teams to get back to doing what we do best: serving Canadians throughout the country."

VIA Rail added: “We want to reassure our passengers that as we await ratification, operations will run as scheduled.”

VIA continues to offer customers the opportunity to make changes to their travel plans without service fees for any departures prior to July 31, 2022.