Shortage of school bus drivers continues to plague Alberta operators

As school starts for most students in Edmonton and across Alberta, bus companies say they still suffer from a shortage of drivers even though the province has provided incentives.

The Alberta government dropped mandatory entry-level training, or MELT, for school bus drivers, and while that has helped, says Cunningham Transportation's Laura Doroshenko, the move didn't shorten the intensive training process.

"From start to finish, it can take five to six weeks to get through the training program," said Doroshenko. "A lot of people give up mid-way, they find other jobs ... they need an income."

With the onus and cost still on bus companies to train drivers, the industry's provincial spokesperson says he isn't surprised it didn't work.

"We never thought that that was going to make a big impact," said Mark Critch, president of the Alberta School Bus Contractors' Association, adding that even a $1,200 incentive the government added for drivers to finish training didn't get advertised soon enough to attract more applicants.

"This did not get out to the school districts until July -- I think it was July 20 -- and that was not enough time for school districts or bus operators to advertise to get more people in the door."

The province's education minister says despite streamlining the system and adding funding, it hasn't worked as well as hoped.

"We do still continue to have some challenges in recruitment," Demetrios Nicolaides told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday. "Those challenges aren’t just isolated to Alberta. I know that these are challenges that other provinces are facing ... and it’s also not just in the area of bus drivers."

Doroshenko says wages being offered to school bus drivers also pose issues as better-paying jobs can siphon them away.

"We’ll lose drivers to Amazon -- that's a big one -- and transit is another big one, so they’ll get their training and licence and then go work for someone else," said Doroshenko, adding that transit drivers start at a wage of $36 per hour while her company pays $23-25 per hour.

Critch agrees wages are a problem and that a bonus program that seems to be working in Ontario should be tried in Alberta.

"I believe it was $1,000 at the end of Semester 1, if you finish the semester, and then if you start and finish Semester 2, another $1,000," said Critch, whose association will meet with the education minister later this month. "That's $2,000 income, which is a significant amount of money for a part-time job that pays in the range that we do."