Workers at Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), opens new tab will begin returning to work on Friday, the Teamsters union said, hours after the Canadian government moved to end an unprecedented rail stoppage.

The union said the work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), opens new tab would continue pending an order from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). The union and company officials are scheduled to meet with the board on Friday morning.

Canada's top two railroads, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City had locked out more than 9,000 unionized workers earlier on Thursday, triggering a simultaneous rail stoppage that business groups said could inflict hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damage.

The Canadian government on Thursday announced that it would ask the country's industrial relations board to issue a back-to-work order that should come soon.

The CIRB, which is independent, will now consult the companies and unions before issuing an order.

CN had said it would end its lockout on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET (2200 GMT). CPKC said it was preparing to restart operations in Canada and further details on timing would be provided once it received the CIRB's order.

"I assume that the trains will be running within days," Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon told reporters.

As well as requesting a back-to-work order, MacKinnon asked the board to start a process of binding arbitration between the Teamsters union and the companies, and extend the terms of the current labor agreements until new agreements have been signed.

The sides blamed each other for the stoppage after multiple rounds of talks failed to yield a deal.

In a new statement during the early hours on Friday, the Teamsters union posted on X, opens new tab that it had taken down picket lines at CN.

CN spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp it could take the company a week or more to catch up on shipments.

MacKinnon's decision marked a change of mind by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which had said it wanted to see the matter settled at the bargaining table.

"We gave negotiations every possible opportunity to succeed ... but we have an impasse here," MacKinnon said.

"And that is why we have come to this decision today."