Thousands of Quebec students without transportation after 1,200 Lion Electric buses removed for ‘full inspection’ after fire

The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) and Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) are among those across the province that alerted parents late Thursday night that some of their school bus routes would be cancelled Friday morning, as 1,200 Lion Electric buses were being temporarily removed from the roads for a “full inspection.”

This comes after an electric school bus run by a private transport company caught fire on Tuesday morning near Jean-Talon Street and Victoria Avenue in Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. It was carrying five children for the CSSDM, but everyone on board was evacuated safely.

Transport Canada is investigating that fire. In a written statement to CityNews, they confirm that they are working with First Student (Transco), the school bus owner and operator, and Lion Electric to determine the exact cause of the fire.

The Montreal Fire department tells CityNews that as of Friday morning, that the cause is undetermined and the only thing they can establish at this point is that batteries were not involved.

About 1,200 Lion Electric school buses were being pulled off the province’s roads. The preventative inspections of the vehicles are said to be taking place all weekend in order to ensure the resumption of normal school transportation in the shortest of delays.

Thousands of students across Quebec are affected and it’s left them and their parents on their own to figure out how to get to school.

In a social media post, the EMSB writes: “Attention Parents: With safety and security of our children in mind, we have just been informed by Transco that tomorrow (September 12) the company has decided to temporarily remove all electric vehicles from service in order to conduct a full inspection of their fleet.”

The EMSB says the cancelled routes are: 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 113, 114, 117, 118, 119, 121, 122, 124, 126, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 207, 208, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 220, 222, 227, 228, 229, 230, 233, 234, 235, 236, 238, 239, 240, 242, 243, 244, 248, 249, 254, 256, 257, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 265, 266, 269, 271, 274, 275, 276, 277, 284, 285.

“We kindly ask that parents make the necessary arrangement to transport their children to and from school for this day only.”

“All diesel (non-electric) buses will continue to operate as usual and will transport EMSB students without interruption,” reads the post.

CityNews contacted Transco for comment, and they explained that they formally notified the Ministry of Education and Transport Canada about the wiring issue affecting the Lion buses.

“All Lion buses in our fleet have been inspected and will undergo a second round of inspections following the assessment request,” said Laurie Henner, Transco Area General Manager, Quebec. “We are currently awaiting a permanent resolution from Lion.”

“Buses will return to service until a permanent solution is in place,” she added. “Lion diesel buses have also been removed from service.”

Transco operates 416 of the 1,200 Lion Electric buses across Quebec.

The CSSDM said, “Some buses will be temporarily taken off the road for the next few days for preventive inspections, in conjunction with Transport Canada. Please note that this is an exceptional situation beyond our control that affects the school transport network in Quebec. School bus transportation will therefore be disrupted for an indefinite period starting Friday.”

In a joint statement to CityNews from the Minister of Education, Sonia LeBel, and the Minister of Transportation and Sustainable Mobility, Jonathan Julien said that they have been informed that a defect in a Lion school bus may have caused a fire that occurred in Montreal.

“Since the safety of Quebec’s schoolchildren is our top priority, we took the precautionary decision to shut down 1,200 school buses this Friday while carriers conduct the required inspections,” they said. “We have asked school service centers to take the necessary measures to limit the impact on student services.”

If adjustments to the vehicles are necessary after the preventive vehicle inspection operation this weekend, they explained that alternatives will be offered to parents for transporting their children to school next week.

“We thank parents and school teams for their cooperation and will monitor the situation closely over the coming days,” they added. “No compromise will be made when it comes to safety on school buses.”

Parents left frustrated

Some parents voiced their concerns online about the late notice for the cancellations, saying, “I know it’s not your fault, but a little late to make arrangements.”

Another writing, “This could have been posted and sent out earlier!! Not everyone will see it at 9:45 p.m. for pick-ups at 7 a.m. Good call to make, but parents should have been advised much sooner to be able to make arrangements!!!”

Others were more understanding, “Better safe than sorry, in my opinion. Safety first!”

“Good call to make, but letting families know at 9:45 p.m. not acceptable.”

The EMSB also warned that there would likely be increased traffic around the school during drop-off and pick-up times. “For safety reasons, we ask for your patience and cooperation in ensuring a smooth and secure process.”

‘Battery was not involved’

On Tuesday, the Montreal Fire department (SIM) told CityNews that the electric school bus fire “was not caused by the battery.”

They added that because the battery was not involved, it didn’t take long to contain the blaze.

In a statement to CityNews, the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal said on Tuesday that the vehicle was a Lion Electric bus operated by the private carrier Transco. The driver noticed an unusual odour and immediately pulled over to evacuate the students.

Another bus arrived to pick up the children, and parents were informed of the incident.

The service centre said that all carrier vehicles undergo strict mechanical inspections and are relatively new. It added that it remains in close contact with the operator to determine the cause of the fire and stressed that “student safety is and remains our top priority.”

‘Other Transport Canada investigations into LionC school buses’

In addition to the electric school bus fire on Tuesday in Montreal, Transport Canada has also confirmed that it is aware of two other fires and a thermal incident involving LionC school buses.

They included fires on these types of buses in Ascot Corner, Quebec on November 26, 2024 and in Hunstville, Ontario on January 13, 2025.

Investigations into these fires are ongoing, according to Transport Canada, but due to the extent of the fire damage, the root causes of these fires have not been identified.

The thermal incident occured in Brossard, Quebec on January 8, 2025.

Transport Canada adds that, “as a precautionary measure, any school bus driver operating a LionC vehicle who notices a burning smell or signs of smoke should stop the vehicle in a safe location, immediately evacuate passengers, and, if safe, turn off both the high-voltage and 12-volt power supplies.”