2020 Annual Report
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oN ESSENTIAL.ESSENTIAL. 20202020 ANNUALannual REPORTreport nageExcept Sirwhere otherwiseon lir loamindicated, lot rinowctudiairmriluoall financial information renedon•reflected in this obcomo•document Om. is expressedrm. in ClmoeioCanadian dollarsobihoo wevickSevoand determined on dorthe burrbasis of Ladiora•United States in NONnSilgenerally acceptedWMIN =NW,accounting raw*principleslag (GAAP). Ala CeCertainnt Otnrirtistatements loductedincluded bin IMOthis wardannual rereportpot conetliaercrocrdixiargconstitute “forward‑looking tantestatements” oillEwithin ththe rrooirgmeaning Nof Frthe Liainia•United States in PISSPrivate Securities Nadia Ligrile•PAr.Litigation Reform ActActe of 1995tlfdordkr and under de•Ccroxbr Canadian ruckdkiesecurities laws.tons ayBy tisktheir nature, boord-boldroforward‑looking Karst'statements IrinvolveWIN Irisks, he. uncertaintiesWCNIOIrtIN coteand assumptions. kopIon.. TMThe CryanCompany MAWcautions nfin that bits VONassumptions wtbn may notn WWmaterialize14/ En andCo deldiarm* that current wareconomic coliccm conditions airs rorender rev rood+ such auassumptions, monks, v. Wagalthough h nowreasonable obi* ofd.ONOat the time they04 My wowwere nods.made, •subject Jject to greaterrealm kocurtzirty.uncertainty. Forward‑looking •statements tan ti keyby Oatheir rnature Min &Owaddress rotarymatters WPMthat oroloare, to eondifferent rt dorm.degrees, kruncertain, en.% mchsuch Minnsas statements, oboesabout the ',zapimpacts eftof the COVO-49COVID‑19 patterpandemicto. on booboobusinessb,. c onoo operations, rota. nnridcdfinancial rumresults b andd Inridcdfinancial perposition, codand on Fethe ggloballabolompp4dIch supply chain, andcod olotrortistatements aboutchat the04 we economic wow* recoverywan, andcod its hamfuture impact on CN.0J. rirmod-koldr Forward‑looking otarrrnistatements rotmay be Wm~identified Inby *Vthe kligetran0use of terminology, 41 wsuch des as INftel“believes,” C *TOM“expects,” 740 “anticipates,” IOWIN 'bong“assumes,” 'cabal"“outlook,” Ws“plans,” 'Wolf“targets” orcr. alleriloracrother similar own.words. Raman:aol&Forward‑looking *antistatements aare runot !Farmanguarantees orIonof future purraworceperformance mellow:kora..and involve risks, InnnOWNuncertainties Noand, nfrofother factors,Woo. otichwhich rotmay mowcause LIthe ornoiactual rat'results wpwb.o.c.dor performance of theOle ConamyCompany to bobe noir*materially row*different hogfrom Owthe oathoutlook cr.or coyany barefuture Manresults wor portnoperformance co krolirdimplied triby ouchsuch actotrni.statements. Accordingly,tape realreaders umare odderadvised MOOnot to rin•place krok•undue ranCONreliance on rnarcgochirgforward‑looking otarreto.statements. impaexoImportant Uhl risk roamfactors dotthat couldwaif Mootaffect Owthe ramod-lochiroforward‑looking statements iracticbdinclude, but taw are rctnot kraallimited Oxto, the*gown:kr duration coand et' effects orthoof the COVID‑19COM-19 Fordonepandemic; progeneral NA wareconomic cot codand Winnbusinessmistime. conditions, potato* particularly bin Frthe ecocontext ton eftof the C0110-19COVID‑19 Forthodcpandemic; hiindustry OA I/7 onottloccompetition; bbtlm,inflation, earncurrency Noand, Mtinterest nigrate nunwOnfluctuations;, C ohnONchanges in NSfuel P/W.:prices; blegislative INNIN Wand/orolin •regulatory W. douNornontedevelopments; ownpionocompliance with WNWenvironmental NW W IONlaws anandd regulations;oo *do , octioactions, • brewby regulators; bait borneincreases in maintenancewirtwonn ondand morallyoperating costs;b: Posecurity OS *V Freonthreats; n•PICVreliance mon bootechnology ft , adand Erbrelated d cybersecurityv./flaky rimicrisk; rahtrade restrictions or odesother changeson to irarrctiondinternational rodtrade onoarrangements; pawn Wowmattransportation ofdbcocrtbou hazardous itoarialcmaterials; MONAvarious events,westkis which coalcould dodisrupt god operations,cpueion.. lonalacincluding illegal cd bbnodnblockades of rarail olinrinnetworks CoandCo dcoa MINAnatural eventsOno IP ▪such ds as innsevere mootweather, uk *molt-droughts, boLloodofires, floods andd earthquakes;ecllo.ohn: climatedim dimchange; or atomlabour monegotiationsp cedars andcrui clowdolorriordisruptions; environmental moo tol **aclaims; uncertainties dof investigations, plocadrgproceedings • oor• otherdhow Maotypes dof ddrrouclaims ogdand Megotlxvlitigation;WJ Moorisks ordand BSIliabilities cdoirgarising from denanurderailments; te timingfr et aidand mnercompletion dof cupidcapital Norprograms; ror VWand itsother anorisks Moledetailed Otrtni from WEItime to thtimen I.in rigor.,reports Nedfiled by CN Nthwith MANIONsecurities MgregulatorsRON in CaWoondCanada and the UAWUnited SOM.States. RemoReference CM doJdshould be Wd•made blb.opwto “Management’s o n ISONIDiscussion andd 141Analysis”0104. inin MOCN’s wiredOWannual and Kelminterim own.reports, AnAnnualyl WronicoInformation Form VWand rbnForm LO40‑F,-F filed Nthwith CanadianComecon codand 11Z.•U.S. securities motive • mgregulatorsmiR• codand ooSceleavailable on CMonba•CN’s website tonawcf.icr(www.cn.ca), for odesa description ofd majoroior rhriskII roam. factors. rbmodbolbpForward‑looking etastatements Linn/a reflect 19information tannin, was Ofof the04 • dindate mon whichwies Us,they arecm notmade. MooingCN assumes nOno ~Orobligation to 1ptbbupdate nor TINrevise bread-forward‑looking boldrg •statements nrrrorti aSIMrareto reflect future WWdevents, papachanges bdcrrbcw.pdo.pwin circumstances, or changes in ato.krde•beliefs, unless • netbrdrequired by oppicobleapplicable no.rthiesecurities tolaws.n. loIn *moatthe event CMCN dondoes addupdate on,any broadforward‑looking-Wry eV:tatstatement, roino inference, lowc• •should lod13 be nodemade Octthat CMCN willoM MAOmake WOWadditional, cd %%IMMOupdates oil+with INrespect pun spotto that statement,STORM rt nktricrelated, nomatters, Ofor Onany ithorother icrwcreixiaroforward‑looking •statement. ton t Asth usedwrd horolComporreorherein, “Company” or “CN”CM rein refers to Corodo.Canadian WardNational Pram.Railway Caw,Company codand, asau Usthe colcontext limo MOM.requires, bits whollyd Oh Omowned, old owsubsidiaries. bpldbrin. 111401019•APHYphotography PROUTfront COPIERcover ini0T01photo: FEW(except N. T OPwhere INEJ nniindicated):I WEN.' SONSasha CP GROW Goodwin, UndoHostler, AinsAlpha 0 PMPresse: PE banSurrey, MCBC rtinC4Pascale ElwoodSimard CooDan CiaCallis 'wonphoto Oilon rilINT1right: llwortinonTrevor Hagan Me4cninBenjamin DvDunn, rn. CO.Carman, nli is hholding Ocirla aCP MN new ito•Somobile ***dotdevice that blaresimproves dosdata wailquality, &only/woofSteve Leonard Mpghelps to bett•better palpinpoint p*togo• areas ixfor rope*repair oafand reamreduces ourop uodrogorortdenvironmental leapt&footprint. SaortNtecaStuart McCall Mc•Old.CICMontreal, QC TABLETABLE OF OF CONTENTS II MessageMeaa ge fromfrcm Robert PooePace IV Messagehiemage from JJ RuedRuest VI 2020 -– A YecrYear LikeUle No Other VIII llwricThank You'eau X HighlightshigNiahts XII Going AboveAbase oand rid BeyondBernd to DaherDeliver Freight XVII Buildingarikling forfcro a Sustainable FutureRAI" XXIV BoardBond of DirectorsEXiectors XXV Select SeniorSalim OfficersOffices XXVIII ShareholderShmehdder aidand InvestorMesta. Info-mai:IanInformation FINANCIAL SECTIONSECTION 1 SdecteclSelected RcaroadRailroad Statistics –- mcuditedunaudited 2 Management’sMtnagernentS Discussion[Micmac++ adand /mar*Analysis 58 Management’siwirnagementS Report oncn Internal ControlContra] overcue+ FinancialRnancial RerxrangReporting 59 ReportRep crt ofof independentIndependent RegisteredFlealitenx1 PllblcPublic AccowitingAccounting Firm 62 ConsoldotedFlnandolConsolidated Financial StuStatementsrents 66 Notes to the ConscaConsolidated do bed Financial StatementsStatements CMcn 2020 AMMUALannual REPORTreport Ii MESSAGE FROM ROBERTROBERT PACEPACE ari 2020 was a year that tested us inin every sense. DespiteDespite the Extraordinaryextraordinary challenges, CN railroaders focused relentlesslyrelentlessly on their missionmission to deliver the essential goods people rely aton every day. II am Extremelyextremely proud of what they accomplished, and grateful fixfor their commitment. II am also sincerely thankful to our customers, partnerpartners, % and shareholders whose ccnfidenceconfidence and collaboration mademade itit possiblepossible for 04CN to provide our essential services,services. SETTING AMBITIOUS GOALS EMBEDDINGEMBEDDING EMERGINGEMERGING FORFOR SI/STAINABILITYSUSTAINABILITY BESTBEST PRACTICESPRACTICES II Peahave WClong banbeen NOS inspired WolrboManwtlondby our transformational alCN opiateoperates "RM..within aratMcienttoor adjacent to nerlynearly 200 merereserve jOWneyjourney t,that [big began gm with CMCN’s primtine:1mprivatization 25 lipcnyears ORoago kincivormontlands of more thanthin 110110 FkotRatkeeFirst Nations and PRYMétis Pintoterritories doe Inin anandd by the potential owour Uwefuture hake.holds. CMCN’s evolution sighteight provinces.palmed ToTo trendstrengthen them allour nekolnrelationsI eelwith IrdIndigenous aura bornfrom onan ardentinefficient dowarrortcrockedgovernment‑owned Swayrailway aointo a cocommunities, man CN hoehas cratedcreated the CN IndigenousM atom Adder?Advisory locel,lean, sustainabledateable *nob*enabler orof bodetrade lyis nothing torteshort of CoCouncilPa IAq,(IAC), antel Independentindependent bodycompliedbody comprised ofcit IntlIndigenous WW1 nremarkable.otncokoblulato As we looklook forward to the numnext greatmot chapter Nleadersodes 'tornfrom avowacross Cando.Canada. The IAC buildsWide onuntie the ▪in oour tr CoCompany’s ming' Coy,history,