Timeline
1921: John Learmonth started a Nelson–Willow Point passenger and freight service in the West Kootenay region of southeastern BC.
1922: Learmonth extended the service eastward to the Balfour area. In a 1923 timetable, Old's Stage was the trading name,[6] which operated a 15-person jitney service, connected by a river crossing to the Procter steamboat landing.[7] On reopening for the 1924 season, the trading name changed to Learmonth.[8]
1925: Before the establishment of the Harrop Cable Ferry, Learmonth switched his route westward to Trail.[9] Learmonth is believed to have started the new Nelson–Procter service via the ferry.[10]
1928: Learmonth commenced a Nelson–Kaslo service, driven by Herb Harrop. Serving the routes from Nelson were a 20-seat Pierce-Arrow bus named Marjorie to Trail, Muriel to Kaslo, and Patricia to Slocan City.
1929: Roosevelt (Speed) Olson formed Kootenay Valley Transportation Co. (KVT) to take over the three routes,[11] having bought the business the previous November. Learmonth was district superintendent until retirement in 1965. KVT started a Nelson–Salmo–Spokane service.[12] KVT purchased the J. Motherwell operations, the only remaining bus line in the district.[13] Canadian Greyhound Coaches BC (CGBC) was registered. Speed's brother Barney and George B. Fay joined this expanding venture. W.L. Watson sold the partners Foothills Transportation Co. (FT), which operated Calgary–Nanton, Alberta.
1930: The shareholders formed Canadian Greyhound Coaches (CGC) in Alberta to create a route network within that province and to manage all existing operations. Barney Olson founded Canadian Yelloway Lines to assume the Calgary–Edmonton route when Brewster Transport lost the franchise. The partners amalgamated this business and their other ones as Central Canadian Greyhound Lines (CCG). The Alberta and BC operations became connected by a through service, but passengers initially had to change buses at the Crowsnest Pass border. Using interline agreements with two Washington-based companies, a Calgary–Edmonton–Spokane–Seattle through service was established. Canadian Greyhound Lines (CG) was formed for Ontario operations.
1931: CCG created interline services with other Alberta and Western US operators. When Greyhound USA sued to restrain CCG from using the Greyhound name, lengthy negotiations began. CG and Gray Coach Lines established Toronto Greyhound Lines, a joint venture, for a Toronto–Detroit route.
1933: CCG acquired Calgary & Eastern Bus Lines (established 1927).
1934: CCG acquired Alberta Montana Bus Lines (established 1930). Arrow Coach Lines (AC) transferred its Alberta routes to CGG.
1935: After negotiating since 1931, Greyhound US granted CCG a licence to use the Greyhound name and interline agreements with Pacific Greyhound, Northland Greyhound, and Washington Motor Coach. BC Greyhound (BCG) was established. BCG acquired Interior Greyhound Lines from O.K. Valley Freight Lines, which had purchased the enterprise the prior year. BCG acquired Cariboo Greyhound Lines.
1938: CCG acquired Trans-Continental Coach Lines (TCC) (established 1935) from Barney Olson and Midland Bus Lines of Alberta (established 1926). The latter had bought the Saskatchewan operations of Grey Goose Bus Lines in 1936.
1939: TG acquired Canadian-American Trailways of Ontario.
1940: CG acquired TG.[14] TCC acquired Prairie Coach Lines (established 1933). BCG acquired Blue Funnel Lines. A restructuring of the group as Western Canadian Greyhound Lines (WCG) gave Greyhound USA 80 per cent ownership and Fay 20 per cent.
1941: CCG acquired AC, which was operating in Saskatchewan. WCG obtained the linking Big Bend Highway route.
1942: CCG bought the Calgary–Banff route from Brewster Transport. The US military contracted CCG to provide a Dawson Creek–Whitehorse service along the new Alaska Highway during World War II.
1944: CCG acquired Clark Transportation Co and Red Bus Lines (established 1929). BCG was merged into WCG. TG was renamed Eastern Canadian Greyhound Lines (ECG). Saskatchewan nationalized the intra-provincial Greyhound routes.
1945: ECG acquired Nickle Belt Transportation (established 1939) of Ontario.
1948: CG merged into ECG when Central Greyhound Lines disbanded and merged into Great Lakes Greyhound Lines. WCG became the major shareholder in Motor Coach Industries (MCI). By 1950, MCI had solely supplied the whole 129-coach Greyhound fleet.
1956: R.L. Borden became general manager when Fay retired.
1957: Greyhound Lines of Canada (GLC) was created as a public company to administer WCG and ECG operations. Greyhound USA owned 69 per cent.
1958: GLC acquired Moore's Trans-Canada Bus Lines (established 1940) of Manitoba.
1959: GLC became the operating company.
1962: The opening of Rogers Pass established a year-round connected all-Canadian network.
1965: GLC acquired Brewster Transport/Brewster Rocky Mountain Gray Line.
1969: GLC acquired Coachways System, operating in western Canada and Alaska.
Late 1980s–early 1990s: Freight was expanding, but passenger traffic rapidly declining. GLC disposed of marginal feeder routes and focused on long haul services.
1992: GLC acquired Gray Coach Lines, based in Ontario, from Stagecoach.
1993: MCI was sold.
1995: A major restructuring placed the intercity bus operations under Greyhound Canada Transportation Co (GCT), 76 per cent publicly owned, while the tourism business became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dial Corp.
1996: Greyhound Air began scheduled passenger flights with Boeing 727-200 jetliners on domestic routes in Canada in July 1996, suffered heavy losses, and ceased operations in September 1997.[15]
1997: Laidlaw acquired GCT.
1998: GCT acquired Voyageur-Colonial of Montreal.
2007: FirstGroup bought Laidlaw.[16]
2018: Prior to cancelling most all routes west of Sudbury, Ontario,[17] an application the prior year included widespread proposed service cancellations and reductions.[18]
2021: Prior to ceasing services in Ontario and Quebec, these routes were temporarily suspended in May 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] During the 19-month closure of the Canada–US border, the respective Greyhound USA routes did not operate.[19]
