School bus cancellations hit seven-year high in Wellington County

WELLINGTON COUNTY – The number of bus cancellations across Wellington County’s school boards has reached a seven-year high this school year.

The total number of cancellations thus far this winter, as of Feb. 27, was 31 across the three bus divisions in the county, which cover 83 schools including those in Guelph.

That’s up from a previous high of 21 cancellations during the 2021-22 school year and more than double the average of 14 from 2019 to 2025.

The data, provided by the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB), includes days when the board ordered schools closed due to weather.

Even so, the number of bus-cancellations this school year is the highest since 2019.

“There have been more bus cancellations this year than we would have seen in the past,” UGDSB communications manager Heather Loney told the Advertiser.

She said major weather events and heavy snowfall this winter are to blame.

The Advertiser tried to obtain pre-2019 data, but staff at Wellington-Dufferin Student Transportation Services (WDSTS), the consortium that makes the decision to cancel buses, never responded to the newspaper's inquiries.

WDSTS, which serves several school boards in four divisions in Wellington and Dufferin counties, makes cancellation decisions by 6:15am based on weather and road conditions.

Earlier this month a notice for parents and caregivers posted to the UGDSB website drew attention to the correlation between classroom absences and bus cancellations.

“Secondary school semesters are only 97 instructional days long. Last year, some regions of our board had 14 days where buses were not running – that’s more than 10% of the semester,” states the notice.

“Supporting your child in getting to school, even when buses aren’t running, makes a measurable difference in their learning and achievement."

“We've had questions from parents wondering if schools are still open when buses are cancelled,” Lonely said.

“Even if buses are cancelled, schools are open; they're safe, there are things that students can work on."

Lonely said the notice is part of the UGDSB’s ongoing “everyday counts campaign” emphasizing the importance of regular attendance in learning, though there is no minimum number of days students must be in class.

Of the board’s 35,000 students, 15,000 are bused to schools in Wellington County, Dufferin County and Guelph. The province has provided the board $27 million for student transportation in the 2025-26 school year alone.

Loney said the board doesn’t have readily available data about the number of student absences on days when school buses are cancelled.

Snow-day absences vary widely by school, Loney said.

Because students in rural areas are more reliant on transportation, the 12 northern schools in the county invariably experience a greater number of absences.

Bus cancellations are also more frequent in rural areas, according the data provided.

Over the past seven years, buses in Minto, Mapleton and Wellington North (division three) were cancelled 1.5 to 2.4 times more often than those in south Wellington, Guelph and Puslinch (division one).

The Wellington Catholic District School Board also did not provide the number of absences corresponding with bus cancellations.

The board’s communications lead, Bianca Pettinaro, did not answer several questions and deferred to Wellington-Dufferin Student Transportation Services.

Consortium CAO David Frier and operations manager Darren Gowing did not respond to any messages.

Both Wellington County boards provide students options for remote learning when there are bus cancellations and teachers may adjust in-class lessons based on student attendance.

High school exams, necessitating students to be in class, are a different story.

“This winter, several bus cancellations and school closures occurred during the high school exam period due to weather,” Loney said.

“In some cases, some exams were cancelled."

Both boards respond similarly, by rescheduling exam days, having several exams on the same day and lengthening exam periods.