RCMP search headquarters of Quebec bus maker Lion Electric

Dozens of RCMP police officers are searching the headquarters of Canadian electric bus company Lion Electric as part of what the national police force is calling an investment fraud investigation.

As many as 75 police officers are taking part in the operation, which is targeting the company’s base of operations in Saint-Jérôme, Que., some 60 kilometres northwest of Montreal, RCMP spokesman Enrique Gasse said in an email on Wednesday.

Investigators are executing a search warrant to gather evidence, including servers, he said. Given the size of the facilities, the search could take several days, Sgt. Gasse said. No arrests or charges are expected at this stage, he said.

The probe, let by the RCMP’s Integrated Market Enforcement Team, began in February, 2025, after the police force received complaints from more than 100 investors, Sgt. Gasse said. He stressed that the operation is tied to the company’s past activities under previous owners.

Radio Canada said in an investigation that aired last year that the manufacturer allegedly exaggerated the size of its order book and as a public company, failed to disclose that it had lost important customers. The broadcaster said it spoke to former Lion sales managers and examined confidential documents to draw those conclusions. The company has denied the allegations.

Led by founder Marc Bédard, Lion went public in 2021 with a roar and a bet that it could transform the transportation industry with innovative designs for zero-emission buses.

The company used its early financial resources to build its main school bus business and expand into all-electric truck production, launching an innovation centre and two other manufacturing plants as well, including one in Joliet, Ill.

But it had trouble scaling up operations and fell victim to government bureaucracy in both Canada and the United States, complaining in particular of delays tied to the granting of subsidies under the Canadian government’s $2.75-billion Zero Emission Transit Fund.

The manufacturer, which once employed as many as 1,500 people, eventually found itself unable to pay debts and scrambled to find fresh cash to fund its ambitious strategy. It filed for bankruptcy protection in December, 2024.

The Quebec government invested tens of millions of dollars in Lion but shut the taps last year. A new group of owners led by real estate magnate Vincent Chiara and former Lion board director Pierre Wilkie has since relaunched Lion as a smaller company, bolstered by the renewal of a provincial government subsidy program that offers incentives to buyers of electric buses.

Under Mr. Chiara’s group, Lion dropped its truck-making business and adopt a streamlined business plan centred on electric school buses. Much of the company’s future will hinge on its ability to re-establish its reputation and generate enough sales to build its business back up. It now employs about 200 people.