A new national report card finds only Prince Edward Island, Quebec and British Columbia have made meaningful progress, while cost and policy gaps continue to stall adoption elsewhere

A recent “report card” on the state of Canada’s school bus fleets electrification gives failing grades to most provinces. 

Canada’s Electric School Bus Report Card is the first of its kind from The Canadian Electric School Bus Alliance (CESBA). The report finds “a highly uneven national landscape,” noting that only a few provinces have moved beyond pilot projects toward a full embrace of electric school bus (ESB) fleets. 

With more than 52,000 school buses across Canada, only 1,980 are fully electric, representing 3.8 per cent of the total fleet, according to the report. The majority are diesel-powered, with propane also powering some buses. 

P.E.I is head of the class

In looking at each province, the report card scores jurisdictions on four criteria: fleet electrification progress; policy and regulatory commitments; funding and incentives; and charging infrastructure development. Each is weighted equally at 100 points for a total of 400 points available. It also gives a percentage grade. 

Of the three provinces that “passed” the study, Prince Edward Island is the clear winner at 323 points and a grade of 78 per cent. P.E.I. has 107 ESBs that make up 33 per cent of its total fleet. 

Quebec is second, with 271 points and a 68 per cent grade. Its 1,606 ESBs make up 15 per cent of its fleet. 

British Columbia comes third with 210 points and a 53 per cent grade, with 147 ESBs making up 5 per cent of its fleet. 

Only three other provinces scored any points. New Brunswick scored 168 points, or 42 per cent (22 ESBs, 1.8 per cent of fleet). Ontario and Alberta each scored 101 points, or 25 per cent, with ESBs making up 0.5 per cent of the former’s fleet and just 0.02 per cent of the latter’s. 

All other provinces and territories did not meet any of the requirements outlined in the scoring criteria. 

Cost is ‘biggest barrier’

Valérie Tremblay is the lead for sustainable mobility with Green Communities Canada, which oversees the CESBA. She notes that the main barrier to ESB adoption is upfront cost: electric buses can cost up to 2.6 times more than a comparable diesel-powered model. 

“This is the biggest barrier, especially either if you’re looking at a … school district with a limited budget, or a private operator who has to fund the transition himself without any provincial funding, which is the case in most provinces,” says Tremblay. 

“It’s kind of hard to expect them to make this transition with the upfront cost being so high, and they don’t have any incentive or policy measure that’s obligating them to make this switch.”

Pause on electrification

Notably, the P.E.I. government owns and operates the province’s school bus fleet. In 2021, it committed to electrifying its fleet as part of the Sustainable Transportation Action Plan. Both the provincial and federal governments contributed more than $6.3 million for the project. However, earlier this year, the province announced it will pause those plans and instead purchase 137 new diesel-powered school buses.

Overall, the report card underscores three decisive drivers of successful electric school bus adoption: clear regulatory targets, robust and predictable provincial funding, and proactive charging infrastructure planning.

Up until last year, the federal government’s Zero Emission Transit Fund (ZETF) offered up to $200,000 in incentives per vehicle for municipal and school bus fleets. But Tremblay points out that there was no dedicated stream for school buses, so operators had to compete with municipalities and transit operators for funding. The ZETF is now closed, and Tremblay says a replacement is urgently needed to spur on electrification. 

Federal dollars needed

The CESBA recommends that the federal government earmark $250 million annually exclusively for school bus electrification.

“This funding stream was supposed to be replaced by a new Canada Public Transit Fund that was supposed to be announced early 2026, and we’re still waiting to learn how much, if any, of that funding will be dedicated to electric school buses,” she says.

“I really think that this lack of clarity is undermining and delaying the transition planning for most provinces and operators. If we could have the federal government renew … funding for electrical buses, that would send a strong signal to provinces and their operators.”

Launched in 2022, the CESBA is an initiative involving various provincial and federal stakeholders, including school boards, environmental organizations and bus manufacturers. CESBA is led by Green Communities Canada and the Quebec-based Équiterre.