Who owns CN?
CN is owned by Canadian National Railway Company (Canada, NYSE: CNI).[1]
Evidence: Canadian National Railway Company Annual Report on Form 40-F filed 2026-02-04, SEC EDGAR, 4 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Canadian National Railway Company verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇨🇦 Canada, Montreal
- Origin
- 🇨🇦 Canada, Montreal
- Category
- Travel & transport › Railways
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: CNI TSX: CNR
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About CN
CN is the railway of Canadian National Railway Company, which operates in Canada and the United States according to its 2025 annual information form. The AIF names North American Railways, Grand Trunk Corporation, Illinois Central Corporation, Illinois Central Railroad Company and Wisconsin Central Ltd. as principal wholly owned subsidiaries.
Ownership timeline of CN
Where CN sits in CN
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full CN ownership tree →
Other brands in railways, and who owns them
The 91 brands in railways on Brandtree belong to 68 owners. The largest is DfT Operator, with 9.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| c2c | DfT Operator | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Avanti West Coast | FirstGroup | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Eurostar | SNCF | 🇫🇷 France |
| CPKC | CPKC | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| Linha 4 do Metrô de São Paulo | Motiva | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| Hellenic Train | FS Italiane | 🇮🇹 Italy |
| Transtar | FTAI Infrastructure | 🇺🇸 United States |
| KAI Commuter | KAI | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
About the owner: CN
CN is a publicly listed company headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Brandtree records 1 brand under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: CNI and TSX: CNR.
Canadian National Railway Company has its registered and head office in Montreal, Quebec, according to its 2025 annual information form. The AIF says it was incorporated in 1919 by special act of the Parliament of Canada and ceased to be a Crown corporation on 28 November 1995 when it became a public company. Its principal subsidiaries, all wholly owned, include Illinois Central Railroad Company and Wisconsin Central Ltd.
🇨🇦 CN and other Canadian brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 174 brands that began in Canada. 41 of them (24%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; CN is not one of them.
- Air Canada — Air Canada 🇨🇦
- Air Transat — Transat 🇨🇦
- Algoma Central — Algoma Central 🇨🇦
- BC Ferries — BC Ferries 🇨🇦
- CPKC — CPKC 🇨🇦
- Calm Air — Exchange Income 🇨🇦
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of CN?
The parent company of CN is Canadian National Railway Company, a publicly listed company headquartered in Canada.
Is CN Canadian?
Yes. CN originated in Canada and its owner, Canadian National Railway Company, is also headquartered in Canada.
Is CN still owned by Canadian National Railway Company?
Yes. As of 5 October 2026, CN is still owned by Canadian National Railway Company. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Canadian National Railway Company Annual Report on Form 40-F filed 2026-02-04 — SEC EDGAR, SEC filing, published 4 February 2026; retrieved 5 October 2026.
Report a correction Opens a pre-filled GitHub issue. See our corrections policy.