Alto’s commitment to rural communities

Agricultural land is essential to Canadians.

The economic, social, and environmental benefits of Alto are real. For many rural and agricultural communities, the concerns about land, operations, and day-to-day realities are just as real.

A train travelling at 320 km/h requires straight tracks. And yet there’s no single reality in agriculture. It differs from one region to the next, and from one farm to another. This means the final route will be a trade-off and that there’s no perfect solution to building it. Our job is to make sure we do this the right way; that entails limiting impacts, compensating fairly over the long term, and developing the right support for the farming industry as a whole.

Countries like France and Italy with substantial farming communities have shown that high-speed rail and agriculture can coexist. That’s what we’re working to achieve here. That means doing the work with communities and being upfront about what we can commit to.

Since consultations began in January 2026, farmers and property owners have been clear about what’s at stake for them. We have listened, and our commitments are straightforward:

• Limit impacts from the start by first defining a wide corridor under study, engaging early, and then selecting the alignment of about 60 metres wide, with the least impact.
• Prioritize negotiated agreements for land acquisition. We will favour an individually negotiated willing-buyer, willing-seller approach.
• Offer fair long-term compensation that covers fair market value and all impacts over time, including land value, disturbance costs, productivity losses and other long-term effects.
• Ensure adapted road access for agricultural operations when they are directly impacted, by negotiating with owners and stakeholders.
• Support agricultural productivity and development through novel solutions to enhance productivity, help preserve farmland, and empower the next generation of farmers.

These commitments set the direction, but we won’t get there on our own. It will require a collective effort alongside agricultural organizations to further define the scope of these pledges.

This is our commitment. Because how we build matters just as much as what we build.

Learn more about our approach.