List of trolley bus systems in Canada

Toronto Transit Commission Flyer trolley bus no. 9228, operating on route 63-Ossington, 1987.

This is a list of trolley bus systems in Canada by province. It includes all trolley bus systems, past and present. Use of boldface for a city name and color highlighting indicates systems that still exist; in the case of Canada, there is only one such system, that of Vancouver.

Alberta

Name of System (current or last)	Location	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Calgary Transit System	Calgary	1 June 1947 [1]	8 March 1975 [1]
Edmonton Transit System[fn 1]	Edmonton	24 September 1939 [1]	2 May 2009 [2]	See also Trolley buses in Edmonton.

British Columbia

Name of System (current or last)	Location	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
TransLink[fn 2]	Vancouver	16 August 1948 [1]		Also a demonstration, 5–14 December 1945. See also Trolley buses in Vancouver.

Note: There was also a demonstration trolley bus line in Victoria in 1945,^[3] operated by the British Columbia Electric Railway, from 19–30 November 1945.

Manitoba

Name of System (current or last)	Location	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Metro Transit[fn 3]	Winnipeg	21 November 1938 [1]	30 October 1970 [1]

Nova Scotia

Name of System	Location	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Nova Scotia Light and Power Company, Limited	Halifax	27 March 1949 [1]	31 December 1969 [1]

Ontario

Name of System	Location	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Cornwall Street Railway, Light and Power Company, Limited	Cornwall	8 June 1949 [1]	31 May 1970 [1]
Fort William Transit Company	Fort William	December 15, 1947 [1]	1970	see Thunder Bay.
Hamilton Street Railway	Hamilton	10 December 1950 [1]	30 December 1992 [1]
Kitchener Public Utilities Commission	Kitchener	1 January 1947 [1]	26 March 1973 [1]
Ottawa Transportation Commission	Ottawa	15 December 1951 [1]	27 June 1959
Port Arthur Transit	Port Arthur	15 December 1947 [1]	1970	see Thunder Bay.
Thunder Bay Transit	Thunder Bay	15 December 1947 [1]	16 July 1972 [1]	Fort William and Port Arthur merged to form Thunder Bay from 31 December 1969.
Toronto Transit Commission[fn 4]	Toronto	18 June 1922 [1] 19 June 1947 [1]	31 August 1925 [1] 16 July 1993 [4]	Service suspended 19 Jan. to 4 Sep. 1992.[5] Final closure on 16 July 1993 (the very early hours of 17 July).[4]
Sandwich, Windsor & Amherstburg Railway Company	Windsor	5 May 1922 [1]	November 1926 (?)[6]

Quebec

Name of System	Location	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Montreal Tramways Company	Montreal	29 March 1937 [1]	18 June 1966 [1]	Montreal Tramways Company succeeded by the Montreal Transit Commission, 1951

Saskatchewan

Name of System	Location	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Regina Municipal Railway Regina Transit System	Regina	4 September 1947 [1]	28 February 1966 [1]
Saskatoon Transit System	Saskatoon	22 November 1948 [1]	13 May 1974 [1]

See also

• List of trolley bus systems, for all other countries
• Trolley bus usage by country
• List of street railways in Canada
• List of tram and light rail transit systems
• Lists of rapid transit systems

Notes

1. Previous operators of the Edmonton trolley bus system were Edmonton Radial Railway, 1939-46, and Edmonton Transportation System, 1946-77.
2. Previous operators of the Vancouver system were British Columbia Electric Railway, 1948-1962; BC Hydro, 1962-73; Greater Vancouver Transit System, 1973-78; Urban Transit Authority, 1978-82; and BC Transit, 1982-99.
3. Formerly known as the Greater Winnipeg Transit Commission (1953-60), which replaced the Winnipeg Electric Company (1924-53). Replaced by Winnipeg Transit in Jan. 1972.
4. Name was Toronto Transportation Commission until 31 December 1953.

Sources

Books and periodicals

• Murray, Alan. 2000. World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia (ISBN 0-904235-18-1). Reading, Berkshire, UK: Trolleybooks.
• Porter, Harry; and Stanley F.X. Worris. 1979. Trolleybus Bulletin No. 109: Databook II. North American Trackless Trolley Association (defunct).
• Sebree, Mac; and Paul Ward. 1974. The Trolley Coach in North America (Interurbans Special 59). Los Angeles, US: Interurbans. LCCN 74-20367.
• Trolleybus Magazine (ISSN 0266-7452). National Trolleybus Association (UK). Bimonthly.

References

1. Murray (2000), p. 78.
2. Trolleybus Magazine (TM) No. 286 (July–August 2009), pp. 87 and 89. National Trolleybus Association (UK). ISSN 0266-7452.
3. Murray (2000), p. 131.
4. TM No. 192, Nov.-Dec. 1993, p. 158.
5. TM Nos. 183, May–June 1992, pp. 53, 69; and 187, Jan.-Feb. 1993, p. 22.
6. Murray (2000) gives a closure date of May 1926.

Further reading

• Baker, John E. 1982. Winnipeg's Electric Transit: The Story of Winnipeg's Streetcars and Trolley Buses (ISBN 09-1913-031-3). Toronto, Ontario: Railfare Enterprises Ltd.
• Hatcher, Colin K.; and Tom Schwarzkopf. 1983. Edmonton's Electric Transit: The Story of Edmonton's Streetcars and Trolley Buses (ISBN 0-919130-33-X). Toronto, Ontario: Railfare.
• Kelly, Brian; and Daniel Francis. 1990. Transit in British Columbia: The First Hundred Years (ISBN 1-55017-021-X). Madeira Park (BC), Canada: Harbour Publishing.
• Leger, Paul A.; and Loring M. Lawrence. 1994. Halifax - City of Trolley Coaches (ISBN 0-9699267-0-7). Windsor, Ontario: Bus History Association.
• Saitta, Joseph P. Traction Yearbook '81; also '82, '83, '84, '85, '86, '87. Merrick (NY), US: Traction Slides International.
• Sebree, Mac; and Paul Ward. 1973. Transit’s Stepchild, The Trolley Coach (Interurbans Special 58). Los Angeles: Interurbans. LCCN 73-84356.
• Hatcher, Colin K.; and Tom Schwarzkopf. 2009. Calgary's Electric Transit: an illustrated history of electrified public transportation in Canada's oil capital (ISBN 978-1-897190-55-5) Toronto, Ontario: Railfare.

External links

• All-Time List of North American Trolleybus Systems
• Tom's North American Trolley Bus Pictures
• Bibliography of the Electric Trolleybus (Richard DeArmond)
• Montreal trolley bus photos