Starting in 1946, the Canadian Pacific had class G5 Pacific locomotives built for use on branch lines. With an adhesive weight of only 151.000 pounds, these had a low axle load by North American standards. Contrary to the field of application of most locomotives with this wheel arrangement, they were intended for use in front of passenger and freight trains, which was also noticeable in the driving wheel diameter of only 70 inches.
From an initially planned number of 600, only 102 were finally built, as more and more diesel locomotives were put into service. For the same reason, only ten years after the end of production, the first examples were retired and in 1960 the last ones disappeared. Today there are still six that are currently only on static display, but could possibly be made operational again.