Greyhound Canada to cut all routes, end operations

Greyhound Canada is permanently cancelling all its remaining intercity bus routes in Canada.

The carrier is ceasing operations in Ontario and Quebec, a year after temporarily suspending service when passenger traffic dropped 95 per cent due to the pandemic.

The company laid off 260 employees when it suspended all operations in Western Canada in 2018. Another 45 will lose their jobs as a result of this permanent closure.

The president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, John Costa, says it’s particularly devastating news for remote Indigenous and First Nations communities, who have relied on Greyhound.

The decision is a blow to rural and remote areas that rely on a patchwork of private intercity bus companies for transportation.

Greyhound Canada senior vice-president Stuart Kendrick says existing provincial and federal pandemic supports have been insufficient to keep buses running.

Its American affiliate, Greyhound Lines, will continue to operate cross-border routes to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver once the border reopens.