Draft budget day at Ottawa City Council is considered one of the most important meetings of the year. The departments of the municipal government present their projected operating and capital budgets, which city staff and committees have developed over the preceding months.
Mayor Mark Suttcliffe began the Council session by addressing the budget, saying that the “2025 budget is one of the most complicated that we’ve had in many, many years” due to challenges the City of Ottawa is facing.
It should be noted that the mayor launched a Fairness for Ottawa campaign in August, asking the federal government to pay what he considered a fair share through the PILTS system, where the feds make payments instead of property taxes to the city for real estate used by crown companies.
Despite the financial challenges, the mayor said the city needs to keep investing in transit housing, infrastructure, and public safety while keeping taxes low for residents. Suttcliffe said the budget was “focused on the essentials,” including public safety. He then announced the addition of 50 new police officers, 10 new By-Law officers, 22 new firefighters, and 23 new paramedics, “more than 100 new first responders who will serve and protect our community.”
Budget 2025 outlines funding directed toward Ottawa’s housing needs, including allocations to increase the housing supply with options below market rates. Investments include $120 million over three years through the Provincial Homelessness Prevention Program to address demands within the homelessness sector for overflow shelters supporting singles and families, as well as for the provision of basic needs.
Another $48.8 million from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s Homelessness Prevention Program is intended to support the shelter system, housing loss prevention initiatives, supportive housing, and general housing assistance programs.
Additionally, Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada will provide $34.2 million through its Interim Housing Assistance Program to help with the city’s response to asylum seekers. Base funding of $18.9 million for the Housing Long-Range Financial Plan could rise to $22.9 million, contingent upon the approval of changes to the Vacant Unit Tax.
The budget also includes $15.9 million through Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Canada’s Reach Home program to fund supportive housing providers and the City’s Housing First programs. This is positioned alongside zoning by-law updates, a streamlined approval processes, and an allocation of up to $176.3 million through the Housing Accelerator Fund, ostensibly to support affordable housing development and introduce more efficient planning systems.
Suttcliffe also stated that the 2025 budget will provide more than $30 million to 100 agencies and organizations across the city focused on addressing the root causes of poverty.
Addressing public transit, the mayor called it the most challenging part of the budget but “one of the most important public services.” Pointing out a $120 million shortfall in the budget, Suttcliffe said, “We simply don’t have the resources to fund transit operations on our own.”
However, It should be noted that the city has never regained pre-pandemic ridership levels despite an increasing population. Senior Transit Commission member and Councillor Riley Brockington believes continued poor service delivery and failure to meet targets, including the reopening of the O-Train Trillium Line, are partly to blame.
Suttcliffe stated, without addressing OC Tranpo’s considerable failures under his tenure, “We need the help of other levels of government.” Transit fares will increase by 5 percent, about 19 cents, with an increase in city taxes being used to support the system by way of a 1 percent increase in property taxes. Total property tax increases will amount to 3.9 percent.
After the mayor’s address, Councillor Shawn Menard highlighted on X that these fare increases would make Ottawa the most expensive city in the country for public transit fares.
Suttcliffe said the budget process has been challenging, and he will be happy when it is “completed and finalized.”
When Police Chief Eric Stubbs gave the OPS budget proposal, he stated that, unfortunately, crime was up 12 percent from 2019 and that Ottawa is currently on track to set a record for homicides. The net operating budget for the OPS will come out to $388.7 million, $16.3 million more than in the previous 2024 budget.
Included in the strategy, according to Stubbs, is the expansion of the new core strategy for downtown, which will continue to deploy foot patrols to the ByWard Market area, as well as the expansion of district-based community policing in the city.
Ottawa Public Health Chair and Councillor Catherine Kitts presented the city’s health service budget. $82,742,000 is projected for a balanced budget, with over half of this funding coming from the province.
The entire draft budget was tabled and passed by the City Council; this means that all departments must have their proposed spending for 2025 sent back to their respective committees to be approved before the Council can send a vote on the final draft of the document on the December 11 session of Ottawa City Council.