Imagine living in a remote community, hundreds of kilometres away from a major urban hub and relying on a bus company to make that trip to access vital services.
And then it disappears.
When Greyhound abandoned its bus routes throughout Manitoba, Jimmy Pelk and Sid Varma saw more than a business opportunity. They saw potential. By committing to and partnering with the local community, they could meet the immediate need and find untapped resources to help keep the north thriving.
“Our mission is connecting the north, and the thing that we live by is a ‘solution for northerns from northerns,’” says Sid Varma, chief operating officer at NCN Thompson Bus.
So in 2018, with its home base in Thompson, 750 kilometres north of Winnipeg, Pelk and Varma founded NCN Thompson Bus to service Manitoba communities along Highways 6 and 280. They provide regular passenger routes (Thompson-Winnipeg-Split Lake), and charter services. They ship freight and provide last mile delivery within Thompson and Winnipeg all year around.
The company is partnered with Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN), a thriving First Nation in Nelson House, Manitoba, about 80 kilometres west of Thompson.
“They are very resilient. They are strong. Problems are met head-on. We like tackling challenges and to improve from there – that’s what we’ve learned from NCN,” says Varma.
“Jimmy and I have a ‘professional life span,’ but NCN is a community which will stay forever. With NCN as a partner, the company is here for generations to come and getting better every day.
“We don’t want to have another Greyhound happen.”
The company’s key route runs nightly between Thompson and Winnipeg (each way), and carries approximately 60 to 80 passengers.
The company is collecting data with an eye to adding a daytime run with a smaller vehicle toward the end of 2024. They are also assessing the need for small shuttles to serve commuters between Winnipeg and its bedroom communities for mid-2025.
Thompson Bus has embraced available technology to enhance service delivery and growth, including newly mandated electronic logs for vehicles with a capacity of 11 or more passengers, which allows for further data gathering. Varma says this has been tremendously helpful.
“We have really enjoyed our working relationships over the last five years with industry regulators like Motor Carrier Branch, Manitoba Public Insurance, and Workplace Safety and our phenomenal vendors. Each of them are working to the best of their capabilities to help us achieve our goals,” says Varma.
“As a result, we have better trained drivers, better maintained equipment, and better kept facilities.”
Having lived in Thompson since 2011, Varma sees more than just bus routes.
“The north has so much potential and we can help grow that,” he says. “We have a phenomenal untapped tourism market. We are surrounded by amazing First Nations communities that have so much traditional knowledge to share and to give to the world.”
Varma says NCN Thompson Bus takes real pleasure in providing transportation to community members for outside events.
“Providing transport to recreational and other events is a boost to our northern community. Events like Disney on Ice, hockey games, and trips out of province like the Lac St Anne Pilgrimage brings a lot of joy – both recreational and emotional – to our passengers,” he says
Varma says they want to recruit more northerners to work for the company.
“Eventually, we want NCN Thompson Bus to have our own training so that we’re training our drivers and drivers for other employers as well,” he says.
Sid Varma says Thompson Bus is taking the long view.
“We are harnessing our growth strategies within the north itself,” he says. “We are developing sustainable, long-term solutions in Thompson for the future.”