Head to head // declassified
BusCancellations.ca vs SnowDayCA
Updated · By The BusCancellations.ca team
Both are free, Canadian, and publish how their number is made. SnowDayCA keeps it to four factors and one set of thresholds; we use five factors tuned by kind of place and put the live bus status on the same site.
Short answer
Pick BusCancellations.ca if you’re in a region we cover, live somewhere rural or icy, or want the official status next to the prediction. Pick SnowDayCA if you’re elsewhere and want a quick score by postal code.
Feature by feature
| BusCancellations.ca | SnowDayCA | |
|---|---|---|
| Factors | Overnight snow, freezing rain, blowing snow, extreme cold, Environment Canada warnings | Expected snowfall, extreme cold, strong wind, chance of snow |
| City vs rural | Different starting numbers for 12 kinds of place (10 cm for an even chance in rural Ontario, 28 cm in Toronto) | The same fixed thresholds everywhere |
| Freezing rain | A factor of its own, during the morning bus run | Discussed in its FAQ; not a scored factor |
| Weather data | The Environment Canada city forecast, hourly forecast and warnings, read from api.weather.gc.ca; predictions refreshed every 15 minutes | Live Open-Meteo weather data |
| Live official bus status | Yes: 26 regions read from their official transportation sites, every 3 minutes from 4 to 11 a.m. on school days, with the time of our last check | No; it tells you to confirm with your board |
| Where | 63 places in 10 provinces, picked from a list (no postal code search) | Any city or postal code |
| Accuracy record | None yet. We log every prediction and every official decision since October 2026 and will re-fit the model from that history | No figures published |
| Who runs it | BusCancellations.ca, not affiliated with any board or consortium | Run independently by its founder in Ontario |
| Cost | Free, no account; paid for by ads | Free, no sign-up |
SnowDayCA facts are from its home and About pages, checked 2026-10-29.
Same storm, different places
SnowDayCA scores every location with the same thresholds. We don’t, because boards don’t: in our model about 10 cm of overnight snow gives an even chance of cancelled buses in rural Ontario, 12 cm in the lake-effect snowbelt and 28 cm in Toronto. Freezing rain during the morning run counts 85% in rural Ontario and 45% in Toronto. These are our starting numbers, published on the about page, and they get re-fit from each winter’s real decisions.
Where SnowDayCA is better
- It covers any city or postal code. We cover 63 places from a list.
- It is the simpler tool: one score from one short formula.
Who should pick SnowDayCA
- Anyone outside the places we cover.
- Anyone who wants a quick postal-code score and doesn’t need the bus status on the same page.
Open the snow day predictor
See the chance for your area and what’s driving it.
Open the snow day predictor →Keep reading
Sources
- SnowDayCA home page (method and FAQ), checked 2026-10-29
- SnowDayCA, About, checked 2026-10-29
- BusCancellations.ca, About and how it works
Not affiliated with any rival, school board or transportation consortium. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at hello@buscancellations.ca.