Negotiations between Grey-Bruce school bus operators and the two school boards have resumed, the association representing operators said Tuesday, two days before the deadline it set for a signed deal.
“We have just learned that negotiations have resumed and our focus right now is reaching a fair and sustainable agreement that allows students and families in Grey Bruce to begin the school year without disruption,” School Bus Ontario said in a statement to the Current late Tuesday afternoon.
The association said operators are committed to serving their communities, and that it would not comment further out of respect for the negotiations.
Three accounts of the same week
Three statements issued within roughly 24 hours describe the state of talks in different terms.
The Student Transportation Service Consortium of Grey Bruce said Tuesday that talks “are ongoing between all parties, and have continued this week.”
Emma Testani, press secretary to Education Minister Paul Calandra, said the same day that the province expects “the boards and consortium to get back to the table with operators.”
School Bus Ontario said late Tuesday afternoon that it had just learned negotiations had resumed.
None of the three says when talks stopped, if they did, or when they restarted.
Operators say fixed contracts limit what reaches them
School Bus Ontario has now described the mechanism it says separates the province’s allocation increases from what operators are paid.
“The boards have received increases from the ministry but the operators have fixed and legally binding contracts and only receive increases based upon what is in their contracts,” executive director Nancy Daigneault said.
“The amount received in the last five years fell short of the increases needed because of the unprecedented inflationary increases caused by COVID and now the tariffs. As a result of these issues, operators had to absorb extra and unforeseen costs.”
The contracts are not public. The consortium has declined to discuss negotiating terms, and neither side has released what the boards last offered or what operators are asking.
Ministry projections released May 8 give Bluewater District School Board $21,974,573 for student transportation in 2026-27, up 10.7%, and Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board $8,148,607, up 10%, against a province-wide increase of 4.7%.
School Bus Ontario says provincial transportation funding rose 17.5% between 2021 and 2026 while Grey-Bruce operators raised driver wages 25 to 30% over the same period.
Vickers responds on behalf of government
Paul Vickers, the Progressive Conservative member for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, responded to the Current just after noon Wednesday, two days after the Current put seven questions to his office.
“I have been engaged with Education Minister Paul Calandra on this matter for some time, and we share the same objective: seeing the boards and transportation operators back at the table and working toward a fair and reasonable agreement that gets buses on the road for students,” Vickers said.
He said rural Ontario has unique transportation challenges, that his riding involves long distances and routes unlike those in denser communities, and that those realities need to be recognized in how transportation is delivered.
He said provincial investment in student transportation has continued to increase, and that he will stay engaged with the minister and advocate for families in the riding.
Vickers did not say when he raised the matter with Calandra or what the minister told him, whether the province will intervene before Friday, whether he considers the current funding adequate, what families should do if the deadline passes without a deal, or how many constituents have contacted his office.
Neither he, MPP Lisa Thompson, nor Calandra’s office addressed whether Grey-Bruce could expect compensation for school transportation interruptions, as in Renfrew County, where the ministry added $2.2 million in 2024 after a comparable impasse left students without buses for more than a month.
Where things stand
The operators’ deadline is Friday, August 21. Classes resume September 8.
Families who need a bus must opt in through the Edulog parent portal. Bluewater stopped assigning routes automatically on August 7, and students who do not register will not be assigned a seat even if service runs.
The consortium has said it is exploring plans to reduce the impact on families if a contract is not completed. It has not described those plans.
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