Quebec’s Education Ministry is halting the service of 1,200 LION school buses, citing a potential “defect” that may be at the origin of a fire earlier this week.
There were no injuries in that fire.
Prior to the fire, the bus driver managed to evacuate the five children who were on board.
Electric vehicle manufacturer LION says it’s looking into what happened after the heating system on one of its buses caught fire. Five children and a driver managed to exit the bus unharmed.
That incident has led to an investigation by Transport Canada. Concerns over the school bus fleet in Quebec have had a ripple effect in other provinces, with at least one elected official calling for further inspections.
In a joint statement issued Thursday night, Quebec’s new Education Minister Sonia Lebel and new Transport Minister Jonatan Julien said they are asking school service centres to take ”necessary measures” to limit the effects of this service halt on students.
”Since the security of students in Quebec is our absolute priority, we have taken the preventative decision to halt 1,200 school buses this Friday, to give transportation companies time to go through the required inspections,” reads the joint statement.
”The preventative inspections of the vehicles will take place all weekend in order to ensure the resumption of normal school transportation in the shortest of delays.”
In its latest statement on Friday morning, SYRUS, a consulting firm speaking on behalf of LION, acknowledged the government’s decision and said the company shared inspection procedures with all affected operators earlier this week.
“We are working closely with them and Transport Canada to confirm the safety of LION vehicles and to ensure the full and prompt resumption of school transportation services,” the statement reads.
Chantale Dugas, president of the Fédération des transporteurs par autobus, said the decision to withdraw the fleet is a “first experience” for the school bus carriers.
She said the federation was aware of the inspection taking place with LION and Transport Canada but did not learn until last night that the order would “go as far” as removing the buses.
“We’re wondering, it’s one accident. It’s an important one. Safety is still a priority for us. But to stop the 1,200 buses from LION and to take them off the road, it’s a challenge,” Dugas said.
Firefighters say the blaze that tore through a LION electric school bus in Montreal on Sept.9 was linked to the vehicle’s heating system. The bus operator inspected 200 buses in its fleet and has disabled the defrosting system. But one union representing Quebec bus drivers is calling for all the buses to be inspected.
In a emailed statement sent Friday, Transport Canada said that to date it’s aware of three fires and one thermal incident involving LionC school buses. Its investigation into those is ongoing.
It says extensive fire damage means it hasn’t been able to determine the root cause of the fires and therefore cannot say for certain it’s due to a defect. So far the events the agency is aware of are the following:
- Ascot Corner, Que., on Nov. 26, 2024 (fire).
- Brossard, Que., on Jan. 8, 2025 (thermal incident).
- Huntsville, Ont., on Jan. 13, 2025 (fire).
- Montreal on Sept. 9, 2025 (fire).
School bus safety concerns reach other provinces
A spokesperson for First Student, Transco’s parent company, said on Friday that diesel buses, not only electric buses, make up the LION school bus fleet that was withdrawn in Quebec.
The spokesperson noted that the company operates six LION diesel buses in Ontario, whose service was also suspended.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we made the decision to remove the diesel buses from service,” the spokesperson said.
In Prince Edward Island, Liberal education critic Carolyn Simpson asked the provincial government to immediately start inspections of all LION buses in the provincial school bus fleet, which consists of 107 vehicles.
“Our government must act immediately to ensure students are safe both in schools and on their commute,” Simpson said. “Every day that goes by without the necessary inspections being completed is another day we are putting the safety of our children at risk.”
Kevin Hodgkinson, general manager of transportation at the Toronto District School Board, said the board was preparing to launch LION electric buses in a couple of weeks on Toronto Island for the Nature school.
“I believe when our group was researching issues like this, we found that gas/diesel buses are still more likely to catch fire and abruptly consume a bus more so [than] electric buses,” Hodgkinson wrote in an email on Friday.
“I know the visuals from this fire [in Montreal] makes it look like there is an issue here but [we] would have to wait for the fire investigation report to really understand what happened.”
He said the school board would continue to “follow direction on the safety of all school bus products and buses from the governing regulatory bodies.”
Some classes in regions cancelled
Parents across Quebec received emails late on Thursday from school boards, telling them to make other transportation arrangements in light of the disruption.
Mike Cohen, a spokesperson for the English Montreal School Board, said 76 bus routes serving the board’s students are affected.
“We know it’s very inconvenient for parents and everyone associated with it, but I think everyone is on the same wavelength,” he said. “They’re thinking about the safety of the students.”
Mary Scott said she had to bring her granddaughter to school on Friday at the last minute because of the service disruption and the child’s parent is unable to drive.
“It’s extremely frustrating because it’s not just me, there’s single parents out there,” Scott said. “She has a mom and a dad who love her very much, but everyone has their own responsibilities and things they have to get to, as do I.”
Robert Senecal, a father in Montreal, said it was “a little unsettling” to learn that a bus caught fire since his children take one to school. However, he said he’s happy precautions are being taken.
“Safety first. I think that’s the most important that our kids are getting to school safe and sound and we’ll move on from this,” Senecal said.
Some school service centres, including the Centre de service scolaire des Appalaches and the Centre de services scolaire de la Beauce-Etchemin, announced they cancelled elementary school and high school classes on Friday.
However, continuing education classes and daycare for both school service centres will continue and staff is expected to work according to their standard schedules.
Other school service centres, such as the Centre de services scolaire de la Région-de-Sherbrooke, said in social media posts Friday morning that its schools are open for the day and classes will be held as usual. It also noted while bus services have been withdrawn, its carpooling service was still available.
Marie-Claude Lavoie, a spokesperson for the Centre de services scolaire de la Capitale, said in an email Friday morning that the “indefinite service disruption” of seven buses used in the region will impact about 500 students.
“It is not yet possible to specify how long this situation will last,” Lavoie said. “However, rest assured that the safety of our students remains our priority, and we are monitoring the situation very closely.”
