The Scotian was a named Canadian passenger train service that ran between Montreal, Quebec, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was operated by Canadian National Railways and later Via Rail Canada.

[5] Whereas the Ocean Limited, which ran the same route, was an express train with few stops (as the "limited" name suggested) the Scotian serviced many more communities between the two cities.

The decision was made to discontinue the Scotian and replace it with the Atlantic which Canadian Pacific routed through the United States.

Via Rail also added two new trains to supplement the Ocean with local service on parts of the Scotian's former route.

Le Saint-Laurent (trains 18 and 19) ran between Montreal and Mont-Joli, Quebec, while Rail Diesel Car service (trains 617 and 618) ran between Campbellton and Moncton, New Brunswick.