A LionC fully electric school bus is seen at an event promoting the Greening Government Fund, which provides funding to federal departments and agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their operations, in Ottawa, on June 27, 2023. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang
Quebec’s government has suspended all 1,200 Lion electric school buses in the province from operation after one caught fire earlier this week, leading to school cancellations and numerous school bus routes being halted.
The fire occurred the morning of Sept. 9 in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood of Montreal, leaving the driver and five children aboard unharmed. Montreal’s fire chief Martin Guilbault said the fire was not caused by the battery in the electric bus.
Investigation into the cause is ongoing by Canada-based Lion Electric. No building damage occurred as a result of the fire, and the company says it’s collaborating with Transport Canada to ensure its fleet is safe to allow a return to service.
The Sept. 9 fire may have been caused by an unknown “defect,” Quebec’s Education Minister Sonia LeBel and Transport Minister Jonaten Julien said in a Sept. 11 statement.
“The preventive inspections of the buses will continue throughout the weekend to ensure school transportation can return to normal as soon as possible,” LeBel and Julien said, adding that “if any repairs or adjustments are needed, alternative arrangements will be offered to parents to get their children to school next week.”
Numerous school bus routes were cancelled on Sept. 12 and several schools in central Quebec closed down entirely as a result of Quebec pulling its 1,200 Lion school buses from service.
The Centre de services scolaire de Montréal said school bus services would be “disrupted for an indefinite period” and advised parents to find alternative methods of transportation if possible. Meanwhile, the Montreal English School Board cancelled more than 70 routes normally served by Lion buses, and the Centre de services scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries on Montreal’s South Shore suspended more than 50 routes.
Lion electric school buses have caught fire in the past, including last November when a bus ignited in Quebec’s eastern townships and in January of this year when a Lion bus in Huntsville, Ont., burned. Neither fire resulted in injuries.
Lion has been enmeshed in financial difficulties in the recent past and sought creditor protection in December of last year. It was bought by a group of Quebec investors in May who planned to reorient the company exclusively to the production and sale of electric school buses made in Quebec and move away from its previous production of electric semi trucks and electric charging station production. There is also a pending class-action lawsuit against the company in Quebec alleging that it has issued misleading statements to inflate the price of its stock. The lawsuit has yet to be tested in court.
Lion electric school buses have also faced numerous issues in the United States including problems with its doors closing, power steering failures, and problems with brakes, along with a recall issued for a number of its 2024–2025 model LionC school buses due to braking concerns.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
