On Monday, April 20, 2026, the Region of Waterloo shared an update about a potential labour disruption involving Grand River Transit (GRT). Unifor, Local 4304, the union representing many GRT staff, will be in a legal position to strike as early as Monday, May 1, 2026.
In the event of a labour disruption, conventional bus and MobilityPLUS services will not operate, but ION train service will continue. This may cause disruption for staff and students who use GRT to travel to and from schools and workplaces. We encourage you to plan for alternate means of transportation if needed.
Schools will remain open and regular school bus operations (yellow buses, vans and taxi services) will continue to operate as normal. Those students who are assigned public bus passes by their school and who are absent as a result of the labour disruption should be marked absent. A special absence code will be applied to ensure the absence is not noted on the student’s report card. Secondary students who rely on GRT for work placements should work with their co-op teacher and workplace contact to develop a contingency plan.
If you are a regular transit user, we encourage you to monitor this situation. Please refer to the GRT for further updates on the status of transit services. For updates, you can:
- Visit www.grt.ca/updates for updates on status of transit services
- Call the GRT information line at 519-585-7555