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Unifor Locals 111 and 2200 are in a contract dispute with Coast Mountain Bus Company, the TransLink subsidiary that runs Metro Vancouver's buses and the SeaBus. This page shows what has actually been announced, by whom and when — and what to do if service does stop.
Status · Job action, service unchanged
Job action is under way, but it is the kind that does not change schedules — crews work their regular shifts. Buses and SeaBus run as posted.
Read automatically from official sources · updated Aug 15, 2026 at 10:01 PM Pacific. Nothing on this page is our own guess about service levels.
Latest official announcements
Unifor · Aug 13, 2026
Metro Vancouver transit workers to begin job action Monday
Metro Vancouver transit workers to begin job action Monday August 13, 2026 Share Main Image Image VANCOUVER – Unifor Locals 111 and 2200 have served 72-hour strike notice to Coast Mountain Bus Company. Members will begin a uniform ban on Monday, August 17. Bus and SeaBus service will continue to operate normally. “Our members have chosen
Unifor · Aug 7, 2026
Unifor members reject Coast Mountain Bus Company offer with job action set for August 17
Unifor members reject Coast Mountain Bus Company offer with job action set for August 17 August 7, 2026 Share Main Image Image VANCOUVER – Unifor members at Coast Mountain Bus Company have rejected the employer's latest offer for a second time and the union will begin job action on August 17 with a ban on wearing uniforms. "Our members ha
Sources: Unifor, TransLink, Government of B.C. For real-time service, TransLink's own alerts page is the authority.
Who is involved, and what they actually run
Unifor Local 111 represents transit operators — the people driving the buses. Unifor Local 2200 represents skilled trades, service staff and SeaBus crews. Together they bargain with Coast Mountain Bus Company, the TransLink subsidiary responsible for the bus network and the SeaBus.
Everything else in the system has a different operator: the Expo and Millennium Lines (British Columbia Rapid Transit Company), the Canada Line (ProTrans BC), West Coast Express and HandyDART. That is why a bus dispute and a rail shutdown are not the same event, and why the airport train keeps running.
If the buses do stop: a plan that works
Stay on the rail spine. Between Waterfront, Yaletown, Olympic Village, Broadway–City Hall, Commercial–Broadway, Metrotown, New Westminster and Surrey Central, SkyTrain alone reaches most of what a visitor came for. Base your days around stations rather than bus stops.
Downtown is walkable. Canada Place to Yaletown is about 20 minutes on foot; Gastown to Stanley Park's entrance about 25. The dense part of the city is roughly 3 km across — a bus stoppage is an inconvenience there, not a trap.
The hard cases are the North Shore and the beaches. Grouse Mountain, Deep Cove, Lynn Canyon, Kitsilano and UBC are bus-dependent. If a stoppage is announced, move those days to rail-reachable plans and keep them for later in your trip.
Budget for the fallback. Ride-hailing and taxis surge hard the moment transit news breaks; bike share and walking do not. If you were planning to rent a car anyway, a strike week is the week to do it — but read our parking costs first, because downtown parking is where that plan gets expensive.
More detail on fares, passes and how the system fits together: Getting Around Vancouver · route finder · downtown parking costs · today's road closures.
Questions people are actually asking
Is the SkyTrain affected by the bus strike?
No. The dispute is with Coast Mountain Bus Company. The Expo and Millennium Lines are run by British Columbia Rapid Transit Company and the Canada Line by ProTrans BC — different employers, different contracts. A CMBC job action does not stop SkyTrain.
Can I still get to Vancouver airport?
Yes. The Canada Line runs from YVR–Airport station straight into downtown Vancouver and is not part of this dispute. If you are staying anywhere within walking distance of a Canada Line station, your airport trip is unaffected even in a full bus stoppage.
Which services would stop if there is a full strike?
Coast Mountain Bus Company operates the conventional bus network and the SeaBus, so those are the services at risk. HandyDART and West Coast Express are operated by other companies.
What is a uniform ban?
The mildest form of job action: employees report for their normal shifts but out of uniform. Routes, schedules and fares are unchanged — you may simply notice drivers in street clothes.
How will I know before I travel?
Watch the announcements above and TransLink's own alerts. A legal full withdrawal of service in British Columbia requires 72 hours' written notice, so a total shutdown does not appear without warning.