VIA RAIL CANADA RECEIVES AWARD FOR COMMITMENT TO RISK MANAGEMENT

Montréal, April 20, 2016 – VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) was rewarded for its commitment to risk management at the Global Risk Awards, held in London, England on April 15, when the Institute of Risk Management presented its Delivering Value through Risk Management award in the Innovation and Excellence category.

“We are honoured to be the recipient of this prestigious award from one of the largest risk management organizations,” declared Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail. “This honour speaks to the quality of our company’s governance. Under the leadership of our Board of Directors and, in particular, its Governance, Risk & Strategy Committee, the management team has developed a disciplined, exacting approach to this aspect of our operations. Every manager is committed to it.”

This category recognizes the added value that the enterprise risk management program has brought to VIA Rail’s activities and operations. Finalists were required to clearly establish the link between improvements made and the implementation of an integrated risk management system, including a risk assessment, follow-up, mitigation and control process.

The Institute of Risk Management is a leading international organization for professional risk management. It helps build excellence in risk management to improve the way organizations work.

This award follows on two others that VIA Rail has received in the past several months: the Railway Association of Canada’s Safety Excellence Award and an honourable mention for enterprise risk management from the Risk Management Society (RIMS) in the fall of 2015.

About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and its 2,600 employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and safely transports nearly four million passengers annually. The Corporation was awarded seven Safety Awards by the Railway Association of Canada over the last eight years. For more information, visit: www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.