Company

Our history

Autobus Galland was founded by Paul Galland in 1941, in Sainte-Scholastique. At the time, the company was known as “Paul Galland”, and Paul was running the family business with Réal, his eldest son.

In 1949, the company expanded and Jean-Charles, a creative and daring young man with a lot of ambition, joined the family business and brought new life into the company.

In 1957, the company obtained a permit from Laval Transport. To fulfill its new endeavours, the company bought the land at 3874 du Souvenir Road to build its head office – where it’s still located today. Paul Galland then retired and left the family business to his sons. The needs for transportation were growing as fast as the population, and the company soon became the bus carrier for Montreal Catholic School Board students.

In 1960, a third family member, Joseph Albert, joined the company. The company continued to flourish, and soon Galland et Frères was born. The new company specialized in the sales and maintenance of buses.

The creation of regional school boards and steady population growth in Laval entailed an increased demand for school bus transportation. The company bought neighbouring lands and had already doubled in size by 1967.

In 1974, Joseph Albert left the company to set up his own transportation company in the Saint-Hyacinthe region. At that time, the City of Laval began offering free transportation to senior citizens’ clubs and sports associations. This is how our charter service division started.

In 1978, Michel Galland, son of Jean-Charles, joined the company. This dynamic and daring young man brought about a new outlook to the company that modernized its fleet and acquired state-of-the-art equipment. In 1980, Réal decided to retire from the family business, which left Jean-Charles and Michel in charge.

The company continued to grow in the 80s and 90s by expanding its specialized transportation division through the acquisition of several charter service permits and the addition of routes to serve Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto airports.

The company’s vehicle fleet, as well as its human resources, had grown rapidly over the years. In 1997, the company invested three million dollars in the construction of a 16,000 square feet building on the same land the company had occupied for the last 40 years.

In January 1999, the company bought Autobus Duplessis Inc., a company specialized in school and charter transportation.

In November 1999, the Centre du Camion Galland added on-site maintenance to Groupe Galland’s services.

At that time, Groupe Galland’s strategic plan aimed at diversifying the company’s offers to existing clients as well as developing new markets. In August 200,5 Groupe Galland acquired the urban, intercity and charter services of the Laurentian region which represents the transport of 125,000 passengers and 24,000 parcels annually. Galland Mont-Tremblant operates a terminal in Mont-Tremblant since 2005.

In 2007, Autobus Galland acquired charter service permits to expand its business to the Montérégie West Region.

One can say that Autobus Galland came a long way since its debut as a school bus and tourism charter company.

Who we are