School bus fire: Quebec pulls all 1,200 Lion electric buses off roads for inspection

By Canadian Press on September 12, 2025.

MONTRÉAL — Schools across Quebec have been forced to cancel bus service after the government pulled all of the roughly 1,200 Lion electric buses in the province off the roads.

The provincial government said it took the preventive measure after a Lion electric school bus caught fire in Montreal earlier this week.

Several children and a driver were inside the bus when it caught fire but no one was injured.

In response to the government’s decision, some school service centres chose to cancel bus routes, and others cancelled the school day entirely.

The Quebec government said it pulled the buses so that they can be inspected over the weekend, after suggesting a defect could have caused Tuesday’s fire.

The English Montreal School Board had to cancel more than 70 routes usually served by Lion electric buses, while the Centre de services scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries cancelled more than 50 routes.

Lion has had major financial problems in recent months, and it was acquired by a group of investors in May with the intention of focusing exclusively on electric school buses.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2025.

Mathieu Paquette, The Canadian Press