Despite poor decision-making by the various levels of government and the railway management, the GTPR established local employment opportunities, a telegraph service, and freight, passenger and mail transportation.

The regional operators in Eastern[3] and Central Canada initially declined because projected traffic volumes suggested an unlikely profitability.

[7] Nearer to Asia than Vancouver, Port Simpson[8] was about 19 miles (30.6 km) southeast of the southern entrance to the Portland Canal, which forms part of the boundary between British Columbia and Alaska.

In 1903, when friction arose in Canada over the Alaska boundary decision favouring US interests, US President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to send an occupation force to nearby territory.

In response, Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier preferred a more southerly location for the terminal, which became the more easily-defendable Kaien Island (Prince Rupert).

[14] The GTPR followed the original Sandford Fleming "Canadian Pacific Survey" route from Jasper, Alberta through the Yellowhead Pass,[14] and the track-laying machine crossed the BC/Alberta border in November 1911.

[16] Following the CNoR paralleling through the Rockies, which created 108.4 miles (174.5 km) of duplication, the GTPR rail bed largely became redundant.

The last spike ceremony occurred one mile east of Fort Fraser, British Columbia at Stuart (Finmoore) on April 7, 1914.

[25] Claiming labour shortages, the GTP attempted to obtain government approval to bring in unskilled immigrants from Asia.

[36] However, the priority of maximizing profit undermined the economic prosperity of communities and other businesses by hampering the increase in traffic volumes essential for the GTP’s own survival.

[39] The GTPR also caused the displacement and the socio-economic destruction of native communities along the route, many of which had social and economic values in conflict with those of the railway.

The first ship, the SS Prince Albert (formerly the Bruno built in 1892 at Hull, England), was an 84-ton, steel-hulled vessel and travelled as far as Vancouver and Victoria.

[42] However, Prime Minister Robert Borden was uninterested in promoting Prince Rupert as a port of call for any shipping lines.

[43] From 1919, the Canadian Government Merchant Marine (CGMM),[44] in partnership with CNR, promoted the development of import/export trade with Pacific rim countries.

In 1917, a contingent from the Corps of Canadian Railway Troops added several crossovers to amalgamate the tracks into a single line along the preferred grade from Lobstick, Alberta, to Red Pass Junction, British Columbia.

Noting numerous construction blunders, the 1921 arbitration on worth also ranked its significance within the naïve railway schemes of that era by this observation: "It would be difficult to imagine a more misconceived project.

The former CNoR line, and a later connection to Tête Jaune Cache, merge north of Valemount, before continuing south to Vancouver.

The GTPR's high construction standards,[60][61] and the fact Yellowhead Pass has the best gradients of any railway crossing of the Continental Divide in North America [60][62] gives the CN a competitive advantage in terms of fuel efficiency and the ability to haul tonnage.