Transport Canada is not conducting a study on seatbelt safety in school buses, contrary to suggestions from Ontario government officials.

"The province got it wrong when they said we were doing research on this. We are not," Transport Canada spokesman Dan Kingsbury told CBC News Online. "We are not looking at putting seatbelts on school buses."

Last Tuesday, Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield said the province was awaiting results from a national study on the issue before considering any legislative changes.

"Once we finish that discussion with Transport Canada, we'll be in a better position to determine where we're going to go," she told the Canadian Press.

Cansfield's office has since clarified that she was referring to a study that was completed in 2004.

A debate on mandatory seatbelts was triggered by an overloaded minivan crash that left four dead. Concerned parents continue to debate whether school bus seatbelts should become mandatory.

However, Transport Canada said its safety standards, in particular the close spacing of seats with padded backs, offer enough protection to passengers.

"We continue to believe that compartmentalization is the way to go," Kingsbury said.

The Canada Safety Council, a non-government safety advocacy group, suggests that research on school bus seatbelts has been largely negative.

"There is a wealth of research from across North America on whether such a requirement would improve safety. Surprisingly, no safety benefit has ever been proven," the council said in a release. "In fact, crash tests have shown seatbelts could create more drawbacks than advantages."

Bus travel largely safe: federal agency

Transport Canada says that travelling by bus is largely safe with on average less than one fatality, and between two and three serious injuries per year. The federal agency says that superimposed seatbelts could make travellers vulnerable to neck and facial injury.

A 1999 study by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board also revealed that seatbelts could cause head and pelvis injuries along with deaths in severe crashes.

However, the NTSB said evidence on the benefits and possible harms on school bus seatbelts was inconclusive, and did not recommend adding or removing seatbelts. New York and New Jersey as well as Toronto's Etobicoke area install seatbelts in all small buses, according to Transport Canada.

However, a 1999 Transport Canada study cited research suggesting that 50 per cent of older children do not wear seatbelts on the buses.

School buses carry almost three million Canadian children every day, according to the Canada Safety Council.