2025-2026 New Busing Eligibility for GPPSD Students
Coming for the 2025-2026 school year busing eligibility limits for free busing within the City of Grande Prairie will be changing. New eligibility distances are:
- A Kindergarten to Grade 6 student who lives 1.6 km or more by the shortest route from the boundary school
- A Grade 7 to 12 student who live 2.0 km or more by the shortest route from the boundary school.
BusPlanner Web App will have all the updated information in March.
Once the changes have been finalized in BusPlanner, parents will be able to select their school year in the drop-down menu, to see the updates and check if your child will be eligible for free busing in the new school year.
2025-2026 Busing Applications will open March 10. To apply for busing parents must have access to their PowerSchool Parent Portal account.
2024-2025 Busing Eligibility for GPPSD Students
Based on criteria set out by Alberta Education, students qualify for free busing within the Grande Prairie Public School Division (GPPSD) if they are a registered student attending a boundary school, lives within Grande Prairie city limits and are:
- A Kindergarten to Grade 3 student who lives 1.7 km or more by the shortest route from the boundary school or
- A Grade 4 to 12 student who lives 2.4 km or more by the shortest route from the boundary school.
Exceptions are:
- Students attending Aspen Grove School and École Montrose having to cross Resources Road are eligible if less than 2.4 km by the shortest route from the closest school within the attendance boundary.
- Students attending Hillside Community School living in the Smith subdivision.
- Disabled students attending a designated school program may be eligible upon authorization.
Options for children who do not qualify for free busing:
If your child does not meet the criteria set out by Alberta Education, there could be the opportunity to become a 'Paid Rider.' Contact the GPPSD Transportation Department at (780) 539-7419 to find out more.
Check Busing Eligbility
To determine if your child is eligible for free busing in GPPSD, please enter your address using BusPlanner (click the button below).
Tips for entering information into BusPlanner:
- Street Number: Enter your house number
- Street Name: Enter your street name in the box without hyphens (-) or letter suffixes (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
- Municipality: Select 'Grande Prairie,' unless you live outside the city limits
- Grade: Choose your child's grade. Note, 'PK3' means Preschool for 3 year olds
- Program: Leave this as as '--Select--' unless your child attends French Immersion or International Baccalaureate programming
- Once address and grade information are entered, click on 'Submit' name to see routes and stops.
*Note: The change to the distance eligibility requirements for student transportation, first announced for September 2024 implementation, was revised by the Government of Alberta to be effective starting September 2025. Due to this government change, eligibility for student transportation at the Grande Prairie Public School Division remains unchanged for the 2024/2025 school year.
Stops and times for students eligible for transportation
Once you have entered your address the system will indicate if you are eligible for transportation.
The information provided will indicate:
- 'To School' stop location and time
- 'From School' stop and time
- Full details on routes and transfers, log into your BusPlanner Web Parent Portal
Walking routes for students not eligible for transporation
If your child isn't eligible for transportation based on your address, a walking route map will be provided.
Students attending École Montrose for French Immersion that meet the distance eligibility guidelines above have access to busing.
Students attending Grande Prairie Christian School or to Parkside Montessori School may access busing for a fee from an existing stop if there is room on the bus and live 2.4 km or more by the shortest route.
Students in Grades 1-12 may access busing for a fee from an existing stop if there is room on the bus and they live 2.4 km or more by the shortest route and they are attending:
- The Academy (not including Academy Athletics) at Alexander Forbes The Academy School
- The Academy (not including Academy Athletics) at Charles Spencer High School
- International Baccalaureate at Grande Prairie Composite High School
Students attending KinderPAL, STEM Learning or Music Program Grades 5-8 are not eligible unless they attend their boundary school.
Students that have applied for and been approved for boundary exemptions as per AP 306 - Boundary Exemptions are not busing eligible.
Students in Grades 1-12 at their boundary school that don't meet the eligibility criteria above may access busing for a fee from an existing stop if there is room on the bus. This will be determined by the end of October. Eligibility is on a year to year basis. Apply through signing into PowerSchool, access SchoolEngage, select Student, complete the Busing Application Form for each student.
If you are paying for bus transportation you must either pay for the entire school year, in full, or fill out a pre-authorized debit form, prior to the student receiving their bus pass. If paying by pre-authorized debit (PAD), the first month must by paid and the PAD form must be filled out and submitted to the Transportation Department through SchoolEngage. Two weeks notice is required to cancel your bus pass pre-authorized debit.
