Draft Budget 2026

Thank you for your feedback regarding OC Transpo. We appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns about transit options in the Carling/Merivale area, especially given the significant growth and new development in your neighbourhood.

We have reviewed the current transit options near Carling and Merivale and found the following transit options at nearby stops. At Carling and Merivale, Stops #8094 and #8078 are served by Routes 85 Lees and 85 Bayshore, both operating approximately every 15 minutes for most of the day. Similarly, at Merivale and Carling, Stop #1030 offers service on Route 80 Tunney’s Pasture, while Stop #1029 provides service on Route 80 Barrhaven Centre, each also running about every 15 minutes throughout much of the day. We invite customers to consult our Travel Planner for stop schedules and individual trip plans.

We acknowledge your concerns about direct service to Transit Stations. Following the implementation of New Ways to Bus, some routes were retired or modified due to low ridership, to streamline service, and to improve connections to new routes and the O-Train network. We recognize that these changes mean some customers must now travel farther to reach a stop or make additional transfers.

Since the launch of the new network, we have been closely monitoring service delivery, ridership levels, and customer feedback, and we are tracking requests for additional service in areas where demand is increasing.

Your feedback has been forwarded to our Planning team for further review and consideration as we look at future adjustments to the New Ways to Bus network. As resources allow, certain adjustments may be introduced in coordination with our Seasonal Service Changes.

If you have a specific request regarding direct transit service to a particular station, we would be happy to forward it to OC Transpo for further consideration.

The City of Ottawa is required under the Ontario Municipal Act to maintain a balanced budget, meaning we cannot run deficits and must fund services through taxes, fees, and other revenues. While the City works to manage affordability, it is important to recognize that many cost pressures are outside municipal control. Rising mortgage rates, utility costs, and general inflation affect household budgets but also increase the cost of delivering municipal services. Construction costs, labour agreements, and regulatory requirements add further pressure. These external factors, combined with limited provincial and federal funding, make it challenging to maintain service levels without adjustments to local property taxes and fees.  

To meet these demands, the Draft 2026 Operating and Capital Budget proposes an overall property tax increase of 3.75%, including a 2% citywide levy, 5% for Ottawa Police Services, and 8% for Transit Services. Ottawa continues to have the lowest property tax rates among Ontario’s 10 largest cities. For comparisons, visit the City of Ottawa Tax Policy page.

To support residents in managing their property tax payments, the City offers several helpful tools: 

• The Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) plan enables property owners to spread their annual tax payments into smaller, more predictable monthly installments. For convenience, I’ve attached the application form to this e-mail. Please note that each withdrawal will include a non-refundable service fee of $0.55, which will be automatically added to your withdrawal amount.
• The Property Tax Estimator estimates the total annual property taxes. This tool is designed for convenience, but only provides an estimate, not an official tax bill.
• Full or partial property tax deferral is available to eligible low-income seniors and persons with disabilities. These programs allow qualifying homeowners to defer their annual property taxes at a reduced interest rate, and a similar deferral program is also offered for water utility charges.

While outside of our scope, provincial programs such as the Senior Homeowner’s Property Tax Grant, which provides up to $500 annually, and the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit, which offers tax-free payments to help with property taxes and energy costs might also be beneficial. These programs require filing an annual income tax return, and more information can be found here: Property Tax Relief – Provincial Programs.

We hope this provides helpful context on the draft 2026 Budget.

Thank you for your interest in the City’s efforts to build a green and resilient Ottawa.

Many of the elements you raise are currently considered when designing municipal projects, including through bird-safety guidelines and selection of plant and tree species that are suitable for changing climate conditions.

In addition, the upcoming City’s Low Impact Development guidelines support the use of rain gardens, permeable paving and other on-site stormwater management to reduce the amount of runoff entering the storm sewer system.

Many of these elements will be reviewed when the City updates its Green Building Policy, planned for the coming years.

The City of Ottawa's Strategic plan (2023-2026) identifies a city that has affordable housing and is more liveable for all as one of the City's top strategic priorities. The City has taken several actions in support of this priority, including the following:

• On October 1, 2025, Council approved the new Housing Acceleration Plan which includes 53 actions, spread across five key objectives, to meaningfully tackle the housing crisis. Visit the city's website for additional insight into the five objectives and associated actions. Some examples of actions already taken include the deferral of Development Charge collection until Occupancy and waiving planning and building permit fees for non-profit affordable housing projects.  
• New comprehensive zoning by-law review is underway and proposes increased density and housing choices in existing neighbourhoods, including the "missing middle" referenced in your question.
• The Vacant Unit Tax (VUT) program continues to identify and return underused housing units back to the market, while allocating all net proceeds towards the City's Affordable Housing Reserve providing additional funding for housing initiatives. The City's VUT annual reports provide more insight into results and key indicators of this program.

Ottawa's Development Charges are competitive and amongst the lowest in Ontario when compared with Municipalities of similar size, as demonstrated in a recent study published by the CMHC. Development Charges remain a necessary revenue stream to uphold the principle of "growth pays for growth." If this revenue were eliminated, the cost would immediately shift to the existing taxpayer base resulting in a significant property tax increase. Therefore, while the City is actively working to remove regulatory and cost barriers to increase development, maintaining DCs is essential to prevent a financial burden on current residents, ensuring that overall affordability in the city is not compromised by funding growth through taxes on established homes.

Thank you for your question. The Draft 2026 Transit Budget, as endorsed by the Transit Long-Range Financial Plan (LRFP) Working Group, allocates approximately 67% of transit operating costs to property taxes and 33% to fare revenue, representing a balanced and affordable approach to address significant financial challenges while continuing to invest in the transit system.

To keep costs as low as possible, the city continues to implement efficiency measures such as optimizing routes, reducing administrative overhead, and leveraging technology to improve operations. In addition, Ottawa actively seeks external funding from provincial and federal governments to offset costs. Programs like the federal Canada Public Transit Fund and provincial gas tax transfers provide millions in annual support, helping reduce the burden on both taxpayers and riders.

This funding approach is guided by oversight from the Transit LRFP Working Group, which ensures that financial decisions align with long-term sustainability and affordability goals. Both fares and the levy are increasing, but the levy remains the primary funding source for transit, supported by ongoing savings initiatives and external funding partnerships.

Cycling infrastructure is delivered through several City program areas, not just the Cycling Facilities program. Cycling elements are incorporated into a wide range of road, safety, and mobility projects across the city. These projects are delivered by multiple departments, and there is no single city-wide list of cycling initiatives. 

The budget figures previously shared reflect the Cycling Facilities Program allocations. The numbers referenced through your Councillor’s office include some of the other City programs that have cycling elements, including cycling renewal, cycling safety, and active transportation structures. The comparable amount for 2026 is $28.9M.

The City of Ottawa is required under the Ontario Municipal Act to maintain a balanced budget each year, which means the City cannot run deficits and must fund all services and infrastructure through taxes, fees, and other revenues. Ottawa is facing significant growth pressures, with its population projected to increase by approximately 402,000 people by 2046, reaching 1.41 million residents. This growth will require additional private dwellings and expanded infrastructure, placing increased demands on water, wastewater, transit, roads, and emergency services.  While the City works to manage affordability, it is important to recognize that many cost pressures are outside municipal control. Rising mortgage rates, utility costs, and general inflation affect household budgets but also increase the cost of delivering municipal services. Construction costs, labour agreements, and regulatory requirements add further pressure. These external factors, combined with limited provincial and federal funding, make it challenging to maintain service levels without adjustments to local property taxes and fees. 

As per Council direction, In 2023 the City launched two programs aimed at finding cost savings and finding operational efficiencies. The Service Review Framework involved formally evaluating City services to identify opportunities for cost savings and revenue generation to reinvest in strategic priorities from this Term of Council. As a compliment to the Service Review Framework, the Continuous Service Improvement program focuses on creating organizational capacity by simplifying, automating and standardizing processes, which in turn has helped departments absorb growth without the need for additional resources. From a financial perspective, these efforts have achieved a cumulative savings of more than $252 million in this term of Council’s budgets. These savings have helped the City avoid passing on a 12% increase in property taxes to residents.

The $550K increase to Ottawa Community Housing’s (OCH) Community Safey Services (CSS) will assist OCH in maintaining current service levels of the CSS program.  

CSS has been operational since 2007 and OCH has been working closely with the City to address an existing funding gap for CSS which has grown over the years due to the growth in need. The City remains committed to working with OCH to provide incremental increases in funding to ensure the viability of the CSS program as a priority.

The CSS model of safety services is a 24/7 service specifically aimed at implementing sustainable solutions to address community safety and wellbeing in a social housing context. Their work reduces calls for service to other agencies such as the Ottawa Police Service, Ottawa Fire Services, Ottawa By-law Services, and Emergency Management Services while also helping to speed up referrals to needed supports, reduce the impact of negative incidents on the broader community, and preserve the tenancies of vulnerable tenants.  

For more information related to the CSS program, please reach out to OCH directly at info@och.ca. 

The $2M and $144K amounts referenced in the draft budget are not related to CSS.  

Projects proposed for funding in the 2026 Cycling Facilities Program are listed in the Draft 2026 Budget and include:

• Byron and Churchill protected intersection
• O’Connor Street cycling facilities (Laurier to Wellington)
• Albert and Slater cycling facilities (Bay to Elgin)
• Albert Street cycling facilities (City Centre to Empress)
• Brian Coburn Boulevard pathway (Mer Bleue to Aquarium)
• Pavement marking and signage upgrades on several corridors

Cycling infrastructure is also delivered through a range of project streams, including integrated road renewals, road safety initiatives, and new road and transit projects. Staff are currently assessing the implications of Bill 60 on projects with cycling elements. More information can be found in the following report: Potential Implications of Bill 60 on Cycling Projects and Recommendations for the 2026 Capital Budget

The Cycling Facilities Program budget for 2026 and previous years is summarized below:

2026 Budget - $16.3M (proposed)

2025 Budget - $9.9M

2024 Budget - $5.6M

2023 Budget - $7.5M

Since 2023, curbside residents have not been paying for recycling collection (and processing) services. The City has been under contract with Circular Materials and has been compensated for the residential recycling collection through that contract. This was incorporated in the development of the City's Long-Range Financial Plan for Solid Waste Services 2025-2034 which provides a forecast of future rate increases and ensures the City can meet it's current and future capital needs for Solid Waste Services as presented in the City's Solid Waste Master Plan. 

Ottawa’s solid waste fee is a single, rate-based charge that funds all waste services. Every household pays the same rate, which directly supports waste operations rather than relying on property taxes. In 2025, the cost per household was $265 — lower than in most similar-sized cities. This fee covers: 

• Implement the action suites of the Solid Waste Master Plan 
• Continue collecting garbage, green bin, and yard waste 
• Providing recycling at City facilities, parks, and small businesses, which are not part of the new provincial program 
• Operate the City’s Trail Waste Facility 
• Organize and run the City’s Household Hazardous Waste Events 

 The City will continue to provide efficient garbage and organics collection and also focus on waste reduction and diversion initiatives.