Canadian Pacific Railway has reached an agreement with both the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Train & Engine (TCRC) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), to avoid a potential work stoppage.

Both unions were set to strike as of 12:01 Eastern time on Saturday, April 21, 2018.

On the recommendation of federal mediators, the Minister of Labour will direct the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to administer a ratification vote on each of the company's final offers to the TCRC and IBEW.

"I want to thank the leadership of the TCRC, IBEW, and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for their hard work, collaboration and openness to getting this situation resolved without a work stoppage," said Keith Creel, CP President and CEO. "This is tremendous news for our employees, our customers and the Canadian economy."

CP will immediately begin to execute a safe and structured start-up of its train operations in Canada.

There are approximately 3,000 conductors and engineers represented by the TCRC.

Approximately 360 signal maintainers are represented by the IBEW.

Farmers were concerned that a stoppage would only add to the rail bottleneck that had developed over the winter.