Canadian Pacific railway to shed 1000 jobs

Canadian Pacific will eliminate about 1,000 positions in 2016 as the volume of goods it transports slumps, the railway announced Thursday.

The downsizing will be primarily through attrition and will include managers and railroad workers alike, chief executive Hunter Harrison told a conference call after releasing its latest financial results.

Since embarking on a restructuring of its operations in 2012, CP has shed 6,000 to 7,000 positions. Most of them were simply not filled after the employees retired.

"There's probably 1,000 additional heads to come out potentially in 2016," Harrison said.

CP president Keith Creel blamed a "weak economy" for the job cuts, saying freight volumes fell three percent in 2015.

Canada, the world's fifth largest oil producer, has seen its economy hit hard by falling prices for oil and other commodities normally exported by rail.

"We've seen the last three quarters of 2015 economic headwinds across all business segments except for a couple of bright spots in forest products and Canadian grain," Creel said.

Canadian Pacific reported a profit of Can$1.35 billion in 2015, down eight percent year-over-year, while revenues rose 1.4 percent to Can$6.7 billion.