Funding Sources
Although electric school buses offer significant energy and maintenance cost savings over their typical 12 year lifetime, they do have higher upfront costs than diesel buses. 
In recognition of this potential obstacle, the federal government in 2021 announced Infrastructure Canada’s $2.75 billion Zero Emission Transit Fund to support school bus operators across Canada electrifying their fleets. This builds on programs such as the Public Transit Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and Canada Infrastructure Bank’s 2020 commitment to invest $1.5 billion in zero-emission buses and associated infrastructure. Taken together, there has never been more financial support for the transition to electric school buses available across Ontario.