Via Rail CEO to resign in January, transport minister says

Mario Péloquin, president and CEO of Via Rail, walks in front of The Ocean passenger train in Halifax on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. Via Rail is marking 120 years of continuous service by The Ocean, making it the oldest named passenger train in Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

Via Rail president and CEO Mario Peloquin will be stepping down in January, according to a statement from Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon.

“As minister responsible for Via Rail, I have accepted Mario Peloquin’s resignation,” MacKinnon wrote in the statement, adding that Peloquin plans to retire after a 41-year career in the railway industry.

“I would like to thank Mario for his dedication and commitment to Via Rail over the past two and a half years, and I wish him continued success in his future endeavours,” MacKinnon added.

Peloquin was appointed as president and CEO of the Crown corporation in June 2023. According to his profile page on Via Rail’s website, his career started as an operator and rail traffic controller before taking on roles with Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board.

In the private sector, Peloquin worked for the Paris-based Keolis Group, and sat on the boards several transportation clubs and associations.

The news comes less than a week after MacKinnon revealed the first segment of the proposed Alto high-speed rail project will run between Montreal and Ottawa.

The full project, if built, would move passengers between Quebec City and Toronto on trains travelling up to 300 kilometres per hour. The line would include stops in Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Laval and Trois Rivieres.

Alto is a subsidiary of Via Rail.

Last summer, Via Rail ratified a new collective agreement with the union representing workers at stations, maintenance centres, the customer care centre, in administrative offices and aboard trains. The deal lasts through the end of 2027.

With files from CTV News’ Luca Caruso-Moro and The Canadian Press