School bus service in Toronto set to resume Monday following route cancellations

Toronto Student Transportation Group confirms regular school bus service will resume Monday, a day after First Student cancelled more than 100 routes due to a “driver qualification” issue that prohibited school bus drivers from working over the past couple of days.

“We are pleased to report that First Student has confirmed that all bus and driver issues will be addressed over the weekend and it will be back to normal as of Monday, October 21st. We appreciate everyone’s patience while the operator addressed this situation,” the transportation ground said in a post on X on Friday.

The bus cancellations affected students with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) for transport to and from school.

Around 140 school bus routes were cancelled in Toronto on Thursday.

The TDSB told CityNews around 12 per cent of its bus routes were impacted, affecting 1,200 students within its board.

“We understand the significant inconvenience and disruption this caused for students, families, and schools who were provided very little notice by First Student about these route cancellations,” read a statement from the TDSB and TCDSB on Thursday.

In a statement to 680 NewsRadio on Thursday, school bus operator First Student said it recently added more than 100 new 28-passenger school buses to its Toronto fleet and those “buses require a different certification than the 24-passenger school buses that some drivers were operating.”

“We understand that even one day without transportation is a hardship for families and recognize the frustration these cancelled bus routes have caused, especially on short notice,” a spokesperson with the company said.

First Student said it was working on getting enough of the smaller buses from other locations to restore some service on Friday and all routes by Monday.

There were still some lingering school bus issues on Friday for students in the TDSB and TCDSB, with more than 100 routes cancelled. Click here for a list.