Canada’s Biggest Railroad to Shut Down Key Corridor Over Blockades

OTTAWA—Canadian National Railway Co. said Thursday it will shut down operations in eastern Canada as blockades set up by anti-pipeline activists threatened to upend the country’s manufacturing sector and slow the broader economy.

The Montreal-based company said the move may lead to temporary layoffs of its workers in eastern Canada. Canadian National is the country’s biggest railroad and ships commodities and consumer goods valued at more than 250 billion Canadian dollars annually (about $190 billion). It has been unable to…