FAQ
The Canadian Electric School Bus Alliance (CESBA or “Alliance”) is a public voice in favor of accelerating the uptake of electric school buses. Together, CESBA members are working to develop strategies and recommendations to accelerate the electrification of Canada’s existing 51,000 school buses. This initiative draws on best practices from across North America to rapidly transform school transportation in Canada, and works closely with organizations in the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
School buses are part of Canada’s transportation sector, which overall contributes 25% of the country’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Transport is one of the remaining two industrial sectors whose emissions have steadily continued to increase over the last 30 years. In addition to GHG emissions, school buses, which should help put our children on the road to academic success, reduce their chances at a bright and clean future by compromising their health through air and noise pollution.
The iconic North American yellow school bus has been transporting our children to school since the 1930s, powered almost exclusively by fossil fuels. Now, more than 80 years later and in the midst of a global climate and health crisis, the Canadian school bus sector is facing a major technological shift: it is time to transition from diesel, gas and propane to electric power. CESBA wants to support this transition by bringing together all of the sector’s collaborative forces and expertise around one concertation table.
CESBA is coordinated and led by Équiterre in partnership with Green Communities Canada, and is supported financially by the Trottier Family Foundation, the Echo Foundation and the Consecon Foundation. To learn more about CESBA coordinators and financial partners, visit this section.
CESBA aims to secure new policy commitments from the federal and provincial governments so that all Canadian school bus fleets will be fossil fuel free and electric by 2040.
Electric school bus alliances are well anchored in the United States, but prior to CESBA, none existed in Canada, where the various groups dedicated to this issue currently work in silos. That is why CESBA seeks to form a pancanadian network of organizations from different sectors that are working in some way on school bus transportation and electrification. Through these mobilization efforts, CESBA aims to mobilize these stakeholders by promoting knowledge sharing and co-developing strategies and recommendations for governments.
The Steering committee is composed of 6-8 Alliance members who together guide the direction and priorities of the Alliance. Selected for their expertise, interest and capacity to support the strategic direction of the Alliance, the Steering committee members provide geographic representation from the four key regions of Atlantic Canada, Québec, Ontario and British Columbia.
CESBA is made up of a growing list of members including research, advocacy and school organizations from across Canada, who adhere to its founding principles.
