The exceptions to this are small lines isolated from the main North American rail network used in resource industries such as mining or forestry, some of which are narrow gauge, and the streetcar and heavy-rail subway lines of the Toronto Transit Commission which use a broad gauge of 4 ft 10+7⁄8 in (1,495 mm).

This led to rapid expansion of railways in the Canadas, sometimes excessive growth as uneconomic lines were built since the government guaranteed profits.

The separate colonial governments had all but emptied their treasuries building railways, and a new and more stable method of financing them was required.

The federal government itself built the National Transcontinental, a line from Moncton, New Brunswick, through Quebec City to Winnipeg, passing through the vast and uninhabited hinterland of the Canadian Shield.

This aggressive expansion proved disastrous when immigration and supplies of capital all but disappeared with the outbreak of the First World War.

The years after the First World War saw only moderate expansion of the rail network and the age of the great railways were over in Canada.

During the post-war period several large resource lines were opened in Quebec, Labrador, and British Columbia – several of which are not directly connected to the main North American network.

[3] The Railway Association of Canada, a lobby group, provides lists of legislation,[4] regulation,[5] orders,[6] and circulars[7] on its website.