Nova Scotia school bus cancellations disrupt South Shore families as district races to hire drivers
Parents in Nova Scotia's South Shore Regional Centre for Education district are facing repeated school bus cancellations due to driver staffing shortages. The district is conducting a hiring and training blitz and considering route reorganization, while a potential CUPE strike on October 26 adds further uncertainty.
Parents in Nova Scotia’s South Shore Regional Centre for Education (SSRCE) district are dealing with frequent school bus cancellations driven by higher-than-normal absences and staffing shortages among drivers. 
Anne DeBruin, a parent in the SSRCE district, said she worries about receiving early morning emails notifying her that buses for her son and daughter have been cancelled. Since classes began six weeks ago, her children’s daily routes have been cancelled four times. DeBruin stated that the cancellations force her to leave work approximately 2.5 hours early to transport her children between Petite Rivière and Hebbville via Bridgewater.
An SSRCE spokesperson confirmed the district is experiencing the staffing issues and noted that school bus drivers in the district are employees of the centre, not workers for a contracted company. According to the spokesperson, just under two per cent of runs — 49 routes in total — have been cancelled so far this year.
To address the shortage, the SSRCE is leading a hiring and training blitz for school bus drivers. One round of driver training finishes next week, and another session begins the following week. The district is also considering reorganizing bus routes to reduce the number of required daily runs and mitigate the impact of the staffing shortages.
The disruptions come amid broader labour uncertainty. Negotiations between eight Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) locals and provincial English and French school boards have not resulted in renewed collective agreements. A potential CUPE strike is planned for October 26 if agreements are not reached, which would affect support staff including custodians and educational assistants. 