Significant increase in bus fees approved for Saanich School District families

Families in the Saanich School District will once again pay to ride the school bus, though trustees say the cost will be phased in gradually to soften the impact.

The Saanich School Board has voted to reintroduce transportation fees beginning in the 2026-27 school year, setting the cost at $200 for each of the first two children in a family and $100 for a third child.

The total will be capped at $500 per family.

Those fees will double in the 2027-28 school year, bringing the annual cost to $400 for each of the first two children and $200 for a third.

District officials say the two-year rollout is intended to ease families into the change while addressing a growing financial gap.

Related: Saanich School District parents could soon pay $400 per child for school bus service

“Bringing the fees in over two years is an attempt to balance addressing the structural deficit and acknowledging the concerns we’ve heard,” the district said.

The Saanich School District’s transportation budget currently sits at just over $2 million, representing about two per cent of the district’s overall budget.

Roughly 1,900 students out of about 8,000 in the district ride the school bus.

The district says the fees are expected to generate about $435,000 annually once fully implemented, helping offset rising costs.

Like many school districts across BC, Saanich has faced increasing expenses that have outpaced provincial funding. To balance its books, the district has relied on reserve funds in recent years, using about $2 million last year and roughly $3 million this year.

Transportation fees are not new to the district. The last time families paid for bus service was during the 2016-17 school year, when parents were charged $300 for each of the first two children in a household.

Those fees were eventually eliminated after the province introduced funding to help school districts cover some transportation costs.

More recently, the district introduced a $25 registration fee in 2024 to support a bus tracking system that allows parents to monitor where their children are during trips.

That registration fee has now been removed, though a $100 late-registration fee will remain in place.

District officials say the return of bus fees is part of a broader effort to maintain transportation service while addressing the district’s ongoing financial pressures.