• TPM23
  • February 26 – March 1, 2023 | Long Beach Convention Center
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Tracy Robinson

CN

President and CEO

Tracy Robinson was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of CN on February 28, 2022 and is responsible for CN’s strategic direction and leadership.

Prior to joining CN, Ms. Robinson was Executive Vice-President of TC Energy, President of Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines and President of Coastal GasLink, where she was responsible for the operation and profitability of the company’s federally- and provincially-regulated natural gas pipeline assets. Ms. Robinson helped advance TC Energy’s relationships with Indigenous partners across the country, including the development of agreements with a number of Indigenous communities in Alberta and the advancement of agreements with all 20 of the First Nations along the Coastal GasLink corridor.

Ms. Robinson’s deep experience in the railway industry stems from her 27 years at Canadian Pacific Railway. There, she served in executive roles in the commercial, finance and operation functions, including as General Manager of Transportation Services, Vice President and Treasurer, and Vice President of Marketing and Sales.

She is a member of the Campaign Committee and the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Edward’s School of Business of the University of Saskatchewan. She has also represented TC Energy on the Board of the Canadian Gas Association.

Ms. Robinson holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Saskatchewan. She received her Institute of Corporate Directors designation in 2015.

Sessions With Tracy Robinson

Tuesday, 28 February

  • 11:00am - 11:30am (PST) / 28/feb/2023 07:00 pm - 28/feb/2023 07:30 pm

    TPM23 CEO Series: A Conversation With CN CEO Tracy Robinson
    Tracy Robinson had no honeymoon when she took the helm of Canadian National Railway in February 2022. International container volumes, still recovering from an extraordinarily difficult operating environment driven by extreme weather conditions in Vancouver in late 2021, were just beginning to soar. COVID-19 marked a challenging period sending carload and intermodal demand plunging, and the staffing cuts and resource adjustments made during that period couldn’t be reinstated at the speed at which rail freight rebounded. Instead, Robinson guided Canada’s largest railroad through a service recovery challenged by surging volumes and multiple layers of last-mile challenges in Toronto and Montreal. The threat of a US-wide rail strike, driven in part by rail workers’ frustration with safety conditions, this fall further underscored the new precariousness of rail labor. Amid these domestic challenges and changing trade flows — some driven by rising geopolitical tensions — CN is positioning Halifax and the US Gulf for growing Southeast Asia trade, and strengthening routings through Prince Rupert, Mobile, and new inland ramps to give US shippers more alternatives and flexibility for when disruption inevitably bites. CN’s continued investment to deepen its reach into consumer supply chains, however, must be balanced by industry cost pressures. Addressing how technology can strike that balance and gain resilience, Robinson will discuss how the rail industry must adapt to a changing labor market and new geopolitical and economic issues reshaping shipping. In a Q&A discussion with Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi, Robinson, CN’s first female CEO in its 104-year history, will discuss what’s changed in the industry irrevocably over the last three years and what that means for the future.
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