Driver Responsibilities
Ontario School bus drivers are held to the highest standards of safety, supervision, and preparedness considering the critical role they play in our communities. In recognition of the crucial role school bus drivers play in ensuring both passenger and the public safety, they receive hours and hours of specialized training: 51.75 hours of training to obtain their school bus class licence, which includes in-class training, in-vehicle training along with flexible instructional hours. This could include driver simulator training and computer-based training.
A School Bus Driver Improvement course is mandatory, and drivers must complete one within six months of initially obtaining their school bus licence, and repeat this course every year. Training and instruction include, proper use of school bus equipment, daily vehicle safety inspections, safe driving techniques including defensive driving skills, procedures for loading and unloading passengers, procedures for entering and exiting school zones, student management, accident and emergency response including evacuation, First Aid/CPR ,Epi Pen training, route instructions, use of electronic communications, and much more. Drivers are also responsible for ensuring students are dropped off and picked up by authorized parent or care giver.
Transport Canada continues to state that “School buses have an excellent safety record in Canada and are the safest way to transport children to and from school.” The Ontario school bus industry holds safety as one of our key principles and continues to explore how to drive safety forward while continuing to provide service to Ontario families. School Bus Ontario sits on The Standards Council of Canada’s D-250 Committee , relating to all aspects of school bus safety.
School bus drivers are also heavily monitored by the Ministry of Transportation to ensure their driving records continue to reflect safe operating practices. Drivers must be at least 21 years of age, meet minimum vision and medical standards, have no more than eight demerit points, have a satisfactory criminal history, pass a Ministry approved School Bus Driver Improvement Course, among other requirements.
Our drivers are highly qualified, professionals and every year we recognize Driver Excellence with our Driver Excellence awards. To learn more about the 2024 recipients of SBO’s Driver Excellence award, click here