On October, 2018, Greyhound Canada canceled all of its Canadian routes located west of Ontario. The familiar white and blue buses have stopped all service in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as Northwestern Ontario, ending service beyond Sudbury. The lone surviving route is between Vancouver and Seattle, which will still be offered by Greyhound.
Over the last few years, Busbud has worked to find and integrate alternative bus operators serving Western Canada so that customers will still have access to affordable and sustainable bus travel on our website and app. We were able to bring you new bus options on the most popular routes in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Take a closer look at all our partners’ locations in Western Canada:
Busbud customers have other options than Greyhound Canada in Alberta and Ontario with Red Arrow coverage. The company operates hundreds of routes in both provinces, making it easy to travel around the two provinces. Busbud travelers seem to enjoy their amenities too, since the company has a 4.5 stars rating – an expressive number for the industry.
Another option is Ebus. The company has several routes in Alberta and British Columbia, offering services between prominent cities, like Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurry, Vancouver, Kamloops, Kelowna and Prince George. The buses have WiFi, restrooms and power outlets. Busbud customers rate Ebus with 4.3 starts.
Travelers can also choose Rider Express services to explore not just Western Canada but also various cities in Ontario. The company offers routes connecting cities within British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, as well as routes between provinces. Apart from the in-province routes, you can embark on trips from Vancouver to Calgary, Calgary to Regina, Winnipeg to Regina, Saskatoon to Edmonton, Toronto to Ottawa, and many other exciting destinations. It’s an excellent way to discover the country! Busbud travelers rate them with 4.2 stars.
Cold Shot is another provider offering transportation throughout Alberta, covering 29 cities in the province. Their buses also serve two cities in British Columbia, giving passengers more options to choose from. On Busbud, travelers give them 4.0 starts and ratings, much due to their limited amenities, as their buses don’t offer bathrooms. Yet, they do have WiFi and power outlets.
Another choice in Alberta is traveling with The Canada Bus, a company that serves routes within the province, connecting the cities of Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary. They’re known for their punctual services and comfortable buses, all equipped with bathrooms, WiFi and power outlets. Travelers on Busbud rate them with 4.4 stars.
Also in Alberta, travelers can find shuttle operators to go from the big cities to the smaller tourist towns of Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise. The options are traveling with Vivo Green and RTB Tours.The companies also offer bus trips between Calgary International Airport and the Rocky Mountains.
Alberta bus companies’ alternatives on Busbud:
For our travelers to beautiful British Columbia as well as local folks, we’ve successfully replaced coverage on Vancouver to Squamish with Squamish Connector, offering multiple departure and arrival points in both cities. The company is highly rated, with 4.7 stars on Busbud and many compliments.
We have also added YVR Skylynx, a 4.5-star company, and Epic Rides, rated at 4.7, on the popular Vancouver to Whistler route. With a pick-up point at the Vancouver YVR airport and a direct connection to Whistler, the (arguably) best slopes in Canada are much closer than you think!
More good news is coming from Ebus, which has expanded its coverage in the wake of Greyhound’s decision and is now serving routes in British Columbia. Although the bulk of its routes are located in Alberta, Ebus has added Vancouver, Kamloops, Kelowna, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope, Merritt, Vernon, Surrey and Coquitlam as notable destinations.
If you wish to travel between British Colombia and Alberta, the aforementioned Rider Express has another cross-province bus on the very popular route between Vancouver and Calgary, with daily buses between the two cities.
For routes within Vancouver Island, you can count on Tofino Bus, as the company offers trips between Nanaimo and Victoria, Duncan and Victoria, Port Alberni and Victoria and many more. Their shuttle bus services are rated with 3.6 stars by Busbud travelers.
British Columbia (BC) bus companies alternatives on Busbud:
All routes from these bus companies are already available on busbud.com. Adding more Canadian inventory as well as working closely with local operators to expand coverage on the ground is always one of Busbud’s top priorities.
Did you really think we wouldn’t let you reach your favorite destinations!? Here are the top routes that Busbud users will still be able to compare, search and book bus tickets for:
Rider Express from Saskatoon to Regina
Calgary to Banff with Banff Airporter
Calgary to Fort McMurray by bus
Vancouver to Whistler alternative with YVR Skylynx
Kelowna to Vancouver with Ebus
Following Greyhound’s decision, Busbud has been working hard to continue to offer the most options to our Canadian and international travelers. As a proud Canadian company, we have been dedicated to building and offering the largest intercity bus coverage in Canada on our platform.
We’ve found ways to keep offering multiple city-to-city bus routes in Western Canada so that our customers can continue to have access to affordable and sustainable bus travel on our website and app, in 11 languages, multiple payment options as well as 30 currencies.
Book your bus tickets for Canada or any of our other 80 countries on our website or mobile apps.
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These are fricken useless!!!!!!!! ebus at at the airport. My transit bus does not operate early enough in the morning to connect to it. If I took the afternoon one I would be stranded in Vancouver at midnight! The same goes for the return trip to Kelowna! I sure hope someone soon is smart enough to make the bus accessible to everyone and at appropriate times !!!!!
Hello Marianne!
We completely understand your situation. Greyhound's departure leaves a big void in the Canadian bus industry. Smaller local carriers are stepping up and trying to increase their coverage to give travellers the most options. It is still a work in progress and there still needs more departures and more routes to and from many communities. Our mission at Busbud is to make bus travel accessible to everyone by working hand in hand with bus companies. We will keep Canadians as well as international travellers informed of any new development!
Don't hesitate to reach out if you have more questions.
Roxanne from Busbud
There should be a definite Bus for Prince George to Edmonton there and back...… it's a major connector for many travelers and I'm really surprised there is no Bus listed for that Hwy 16 East Highway Route. I believe You will Assign a Bus to take that Driving Job for the many Passengers who used this frequently with Greyhound before They abandoned Us and Hope You will get a Bus going soon for Prince George to Edmonton cuz We need to See Our Family that Live that Distance away from Us.
This is a good start to Greyhounds Departure. There is only one route I take. That is the Edmonton to Medicine Hat route by greyhound. For people who take public transit to connect with these partner bus connectors. Consider saving enough for a cab to the pick up location. Then you can catch the bus when public transit doesn’t serve people. We all can push for a taxi flat rate to these bus stations.
There's nothing that connects through the trans Canada highway.
There's no mention of a bus service that connects from Salmon Arm,to Calgary.
This route is a MAJOR connection between provinces...
they need inter provincial buses to cities Calgary and Winnipeg .
I need to let you know one bus company that is clearly missed here... Rider Express. They serve the Trans Canada Highway. Not exactly sure of the stop locations though. they have routes in Sask currently. Rider express has new routes coming on line slowly, Current ones that I know of, Prince Albert to Saskatoon, Saskatoon - Regina, Winnipeg - Regina, Regina - Calgary, Calgary - Banff - Kamloops ( I'm sure people will be hard pressing on this route to stop in Cannmore, Lake Louise, Field, Golden, Revelostoke, Sicamous, Salmon Arm. I wont be surprised if the request gets heavy on this route...) New route added just recently not listed yet - Saskatoon to Edmonton ( Again heavy pressure on this route to stop in Battlefords - Lloydminster - Mannvile, Vegerville No routes yet from Edmonton to jasper I hope Rider Express will cover this route to connect to the BC North Bus in Valuemount BC then continue on to Kamloops BC
Edmonton to Saskatoon will come up very soon around the end of this month in time for the Christmas holidays.
Here's the website address for Rider Express based in Regina Sask https://riderexpress.ca/
Hello!
We now have all Rider Express routes available on Busbud. The article has been updated to show this information. Rider Express is indeed a great bus company with cross province routes between Saskatchewan and Alberta as well as Alberta and British Colombia. We are very happy to be offering their tickets on our platform and we are still looking into adding more inventory in Northern BC and the prairie provinces.
EBus is too expensive; it is over 15$ more to get from Abbotsford to Vancouver. Not only that, the station is all the way at the airport instead of within range of the transit system.
I live in cranbrook bc and my only fricken option is to fly just to go to calgary since I dont drive.....there needs to be a bus replacement here cant fork out $500 everytime I wanna go see my family..
Nelson to Regina. Got anything there? This sucks with no greyhound. I think we should lobby for it back
Hi i was wondering what about bus rout from kamloops B.C. to lethbridge AB.? Will there be a bus that travels that way? Jst a thought?
There's absolutely nothing for Northern BC, nothing at all connecting from Prince Rupert all the way to wherever the closet bus to these listed is. Prince George is a major hub up here, while these may be good for southern BC, it does not help up here. Do you know if anything will be added?