Student transit program will continue this year as HRM finds funding

Halifax's Student Transit Pass Program will continue for the 2026/27 school year. PHOTO BY RYAN TAPLIN /The Chronicle Herald Students will continue to ride the bus for free, the Halifax Regional Municipality announced, just one day before school starts. The student transit pass program was launched in 2021. By 2024, over 30,000 students in 59 schools in HRM had access to free transit. In 2025, roughly 52 per cent of students reported using Halifax Transit as one of their primary methods of travel. The transit program has been in jeopardy since the province pulled $1.2 million in funding in February. At the time, the municipality was contributing around $600,000 of the $1.8 million needed to run the program. Now, the funding will be split by three groups. “The Halifax Regional Centre for Education is funding transit passes for students attending five Halifax schools where public transit is more practical than school buses,” HRM said Wednesday in a news release. “The Nova Scotia Department of Opportunities and Social Development is funding transit passes for Halifax youth ages 13 through 18 connected to Employment Support and Income Assistance — more than 1,700 students. “The Halifax Regional Municipality is funding transit passes for all remaining Grade 7 through 12 students, including homeschooled students and those attending private schools.” The program provides free annual transit passes for students attending junior high and high schools registered at the Halifax Regional Centre for Education and the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial, home-schooled students and students attending private schools. Read More Back to school in Nova Scotia: Here's some of what you need to know for the start of classes this week Halifax parents frustrated by uncertainty over student bus pass program rollout for new school year This year, the passes will be delivered through the HFXGO app. Students can access their passes by signing up with their student email. HRM warns that it could take up to a week for the pass to work after verification. Passes from last year will be extended until Sept. 11 to allow for “uninterrupted access to transit” while the new passes are rolling out. Physical passes are available upon request, according to the release. LATEST FROM SHOPPING ESSENTIALS Article, Coach, Wayfair: The best early Labour Day sales you can shop in Canada Save some money on big-ticket items this Labour Day