The Federal Government of Canada and the provincial government of Quebec have jointly announced investments to the tune of $780 million and $1.1 billion, respectively, to procure 1,229 electric buses for improving Quebec’s public transit network.

Nova Bus, a company based in Saint-Eustache, was awarded the contract to manufacture these buses following a public tender released in April 2022. The Quebec government said the buses will be delivered by 2027 and will be acquired by various transportation organizations.

To maximize the potential for local economic advantages, the call for tenders specified that 25% Canadian content was required, and final assembly must be completed in Canada in compliance with relevant trade agreements that Quebec adheres to.

Ralph Acs, President of Nova Bus, said, “We at Nova Bus feel privileged to accompany public transit agencies in their transition to electrification and congratulate the Quebec government for its leadership in achieving its GHG reduction objectives. This important milestone is a sign that all stakeholders in the transportation sector are working together to fight climate change.”

The electric buses are part of the Green Economy Plan, which aims to install 2,148 buses on Quebec’s roads by 2030, for which a sum of $5 billion was pledged.

The funding will enable ten public transportation organizations (PTOs) to initiate the large-scale transition of their bus fleets to 100% electric by Quebec’s Plan for a Green Economy (PEV 2030) and Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan.

The Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) will represent the contract on behalf of the other nine transit agencies and be responsible for procuring the buses.

This investment also fulfills the federal government’s pledge to assist in acquiring 5,000 zero-emission buses over the next five years.

The Government of Canada further plans to invest $14.9 billion over the next eight years in reliable, fast, affordable, and clean public transit, including $3 billion per year in permanent, predictable federal public transit funding.

Canada was one of the sixteen countries that committed $94 billion for clean energy demonstration projects globally at the first Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh in September last year.

In India, Convergence Energy Services (CESL) said that the prices discovered for the largest e-bus tender (6,465 electric buses) in January 2023, under Phase I of the National Electric Bus Program, were 29% lower than the diesel vehicles.