“We recognize that this has been disruptive and time consuming for residents and all road users,” said an OC Transpo representative. “We know that traffic disruptions have been impactful and frustrating for everyone.”

“My team is focused on doing better for residents,” they said. “We are taking a detailed review of our procedures for planning, coordinating, and communicating traffic impacts.”

Despite delays, work is moving forward on both east and west end extensions. For the west extension, transit staff highlighted that testing, commissions, and Line 1 integration is done.

The next step will be trial running, but this is paused until a sufficient number of carriages can be made ready.

“So, right now we’ve got 33–34 single car trains that are available for service,” said Troy Charter, Associate General Manager of OC Transpo. “We need a minimum of 46 single car trains to go into trial running to assess the service levels outlined in the project agreement.”

On the west end extension, OC Transpo staff was able to provide a more concrete timeline. “Bus loop construction is underway at Algonquin, Bayshore, Moody, Pine Crest, Lincoln Fields, and Westboro Stations, and is expected to be near completion by the end of the year,” a staff member said.

Coun. Wilson Lo (Barrhaven East) wondered about possible synergies between east and west extensions.

“When the east launches – the changes to the bus network in the east – is that going to free up any resources that we can reallocate perhaps to benefit the west?” asked Lo.

OC Transpo representatives explained that it would depend on the city’s needs.

“There will be a small number of buses that will be freed up,” they said. “What we do with them will depend on the observed travel needs at that time, and the state of the bus fleet.”

Exact timelines for various upgrades to the O-Train will be clarified at the next technical briefing. So far, city councillors generally agree that work on the project is progressing.

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According to Senior Policy Advisor Shraddha Badaravada, drone technology is moving faster than the rules, with many questions surrounding citizens’ data at top of mind.

“A drone operation today is a human-operated tool with accountable people behind every flight. It is not an autonomous robot making independent decisions,” clarified Badaravada. “However, greater autonomy is now on the technical horizon.” 

Currently, drones, or remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), are used under specific circumstances in police work, such as missing person searches and search and rescue, collision reconstruction and crime-scene mapping, and situational awareness at major incidents. 

But Badaravada noted a qualitative shift in this regard, where the use of drones is expanding into the role of a first responder. The idea behind this would be for drones to arrive at a location ahead of officers. Pilots for such usage are not fully operational yet, but have been announced in Peel and Durham regions in Ontario and in Red Deer, Alberta. 

As for how drone technology and the law interact, Badaravada said developments are highly dynamic. 

“The rulebook is actually changing, the pace of this change has been extremely unusual and it’s rapid in motion,” said Badaravada, pointing to 15 legislative and regulatory developments that have emerged at federal, provincial, regulatory, and international levels over the last year and a half. 

In fact, on Wednesday, the Ontario government announced an immediate ban on Chinese-made drones in highly sensitive Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) operations, as well as a prohibition on Chinese procurement. 

How this announcement might impact Ottawa police operations was unknown to Paul Burnett, Deputy Chief of Police.

“I know that we use DJI as equipment,” said Burnett, when asked about the source of the Ottawa Police Service’s drone technology. “I haven’t looked into how that announcement would impact us personally.” 

DJI is a Chinese technology company that manufactures commercial drones. The OPP also uses DJI for its drone equipment. 

Following further questions on data storage, the Board took the briefing for information.

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Rain Ready Ottawa is a program aimed at protecting waterways by awarding rebates to residents who undertake actions on their property that reduce the harmful impacts of stormwater runoff.

City staff explained the reason for expanding the program.

“[The existing rebate program] is one of our most effective tools,” they said. “Council directed staff to explore a low-rise MURB rebate when the RRO was approved in 2024.” 

The proposed program expansion would apply only to low-rise MURBs (buildings under three storeys), including cooperative housing, condominiums, rental housing, and affordable housing. Rebates for MURBs could amount to as much as $30,000. 

Although the new rebate stream will be funded out of the existing program budget of $500,000, with $100,000 specifically allocated to low-rise MURBs, city staff clarified that availability of the existing stream for private residents is not expected to be impacted. 

Councillor Theresa Kavanagh (Bay) expressed her support for the expansion, but wondered about how this might impact the existing program’s capacity. 

“I think we have to grow it. I worry that we have a backlog, and we as a council have to look at the budget,” she said. “Because this program should be expanded. It’s been a huge success.” 

City staff clarified that there is no backlog currently. “We don’t have a backlog when it comes to rebate application itself… The intent of this is to help us further maximize the budget that we have right now.” 

The committee approved the motion, which will be taken to the next city council meeting on May 27.

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The plan was initially presented to the committee in early March. Feedback from the public was gathered via survey on Engage Ottawa.

Survey respondents totaled 63, along with three written submissions. In total, City staff reviewed 38 draft recommendations based on this public engagement.

Results indicated that the majority of respondents approved of the plan (68 per cent), 18 per cent disagreed with the plan, and 13 per cent were neutral. Approximately half of respondents were business owners.

Most interesting to survey respondents was the proposed Rural Business Liaison position, which will be a dedicated city staff position, charged with all implementation activities regarding rural business in the Ottawa area.

Councillors were generally approving of the updated rural plan, after putting forward a few amendments.

“When I read the initial plan, I felt that it really lacked the ambition that’s needed in this moment,” said Isabelle Skalski (Osgoode). “We can’t even pretend to be serious about rural economic development if we don’t have staff whose job it is to do outreach and foster partnerships with rural businesses, or if we don’t have data that tells us what the rural economy even looks like.”

“I’ve heard from rural businesses that they won’t invest in Ottawa, it’s too expensive, and they get more support from our neighbouring municipalities,” she continued. “So the plan before us today puts the pieces in place that are essential to building anything more ambitious going forward. It recognizes that there are gaps and it works to fill them.”

Catherine Kitts (Orléans South-Navan) echoed some of Coun. Skalski’s perspective.

“When we asked staff what the key takeaway was from the businesses that they spoke to in Ward 19, it was that they were ‘pleasantly surprised’ and appreciative to have city staff take an interest in them. And I wanted to emphasize that because I think it says a lot, it shows that rural Ottawa has felt overlooked and really like an afterthought in conversations at City Hall. And that is disappointing.”

“I also think that there’s something encouraging in it,” she added, “because the fact that they are pleasantly surprised and appreciative just because city staff took the time to speak with them shows how meaningful simple engagement can be, and it tells us that people just want to be listened to and included and recognized.”

With some amendments, the committee approved the draft Economic Development Rural plan, which will next be considered by City Council on May 13.

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The committee Tuesday received a presentation from city staff on the draft family homelessness strategy, which comes as Ottawa has seen an increase in the number of families accessing city supports in recent years.

This has lead to unbudgeted spend of $29.3 million on overflow spaces at hotel accommodations in Ottawa, according to staff.

One of the strategy’s focus areas is to prevent people from coming into the system in Ottawa from other municipalities, with staffing noting the city has been seeing inflow from places like Montreal.

Staff said they’re “working extensively across our housing partners, other municipalities within Ontario and partners in Quebec … to notify that we will be sending people back to their place of origin, as long as they have the supports in place in those systems.”

They clarified the reason for doing this was because Ottawa doesn’t have the capacity to support populations outside of its own catchment area.

Staff also emphasized that the system is a last resort, and would rather focus on getting families in need into more permanent housing solutions as quickly as possible.

Councillors wondered about additional affordable housing options for families, but city staff once again highlighted budgetary limitations.

“Currently there is no available capital funding for an increase in transitional housing, so we don’t have plans as it stands to look at purchasing or leasing another building.”

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“Investing in supportive housing is a long-term investment that shifts spending from emergency response to prevention and stability,” said Sutcliffe. “It improves access to care, reduces ambulance trips, emergency visits, and hospital stays, and improves safety, security, and well-being.”

In 2024, approximately 3,000 people experienced homelessness in Ottawa, with around 450 of those people on the waitlist for supportive housing. Sutcliffe noted that the current rate of building for supportive housing is insufficient, with the last person on the waitlist potentially having to wait up to 10 years for access to a unit.

Sutcliffe’s motion called on the City to become a national leader for addressing chronic homelessness through supportive and affordable housing, with staff mandated to consider the implementation of a dedicated Supporting Housing Fund as part of the 2027 budget.

The suggested fund would be expected to double the rate at which supportive housing units are currently built, allowing for the waiting time for access to a supportive housing unit to be reduced from 10 years to five.

Coun. Ariel Troster expressed her support for the motion, noting that the current state of homelessness in Ottawa is unacceptable.

“We saw in the City Auditor’s report on supportive housing, right now the people in the worst shape are not getting housed, and it’s very detrimental to their health and the health … and the security of our communities.”

According to a press release from the Ottawa Mission, one of Ottawa’s biggest shelters, 18,302 meals were served over the Easter long weekend.

“This is a new record for our Easter meal and more than five times the number of meals we served for Easter 2019 before the pandemic,” said the Mission’s Director of Food Services, Chef Ric Allen-Watson.

In a unanimous vote at last Wednesday’s council meeting, Sutcliffe’s motion passed. Although City staff have now been mandated to consider a Supportive Housing Fund in the 2027 budget, the 2026 mayoral election in October could still impact and shift priorities.

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Troy Charter, the city’s interim general manager of transit services, told council’s transit committee on Thursday that it would happen in May. 

“Every effort is being made to accelerate the work that is required,” said Charter. “We’re trying to accelerate as much as we can to restore the service for our customers.” 

The current issues with Line 1 were first identified in January, when providers Rideau Transit Group (RTG) and Alstom found spalling on the Line’s vehicles’ Cartridge Bearing Assemblies (CBAs).

Since then, long wait times and overcrowding on key light rail platforms across Ottawa have been ongoing. Delays to full service were further pushed back when RTG and Alstom discovered additional safety concerns while replacing the CBAs.

Charter said he understands the timelines offered for return to service “may be disappointing for our customers,” but OC Transpo’s commitment is “always to support the safe operation of our service.”

“We do anticipate that our customers will see the effects of gradual improvements to capacity on Line 1 in the coming weeks, and our work on Line 1 will ensure that we’re ready to keep customers moving during the summer festival season.”

Coun. Tim Tierney (Beacon Hill-Cyrville) highlighted the link between Line 1 and the East End expansion of the Line, which continues to be delayed. 

“Obviously Line 1 is critical, but there’s a lot in the east end, there is a real linkage, so we need a commitment when we’re going to get an update specific to the east end,” said Tierney.

“If we don’t have trains running by September in the east end, that has massive impacts on the entire system.” 

Charter confirmed that a detailed update would be provided at the next Transit Committee meeting in May.

“We want to give you that detailed information about trial running, what it means for our customers, what they can expect, and the timelines associated with that.” 

Coun. Marty Carr (Alta Vista) shared Tierney’s concerns, and wondered who was paying for the various additional measures being undertaken to address the safety issues discovered by Alstom and RTG.

“RTG and Alstom are wholly responsible for the design manufacture of the vehicles and the system, so those are costs for them to bear,” said Charter. 

Carr noted that operational costs to the service, in terms of the required extra operators and busses, still fell on the city. 

The next Transit Committee is expected to take place on May 14. 

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The construction of sidewalks along Arundel Avenue, Braemar Street, Jeffery Avenue, and Kilbarry Crescent in the Manor Park neighbourhood has been a contentious topic, with one local opposition group gathering together under the slogan “Don’t pave paradise.” According to a survey undertaken by Coun. King, 52 per cent of respondents were in opposition to the sidewalks, while 40 per cent were in support.

But the voices against the proposed motion were numerous at Monday’s committee meeting. Among those voices was Rob Attrell, a board member of Bike Ottawa, who was also representing community organizations such as Ecology Ottawa, CAFES Ottawa, the Ottawa Disability Coalition, Walkable Ottawa, and the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment — among others.

“Debates like this that divide a neighbourhood threaten to set a dangerous precedent for the entire city,” said Attrell. “When a community group challenges the Official Plan, trying to opt out of minimum safety and accessibility standards, it should be based on more than a desire to maintain the status quo.”

He added that the construction of sidewalks now, during a time when roads are scheduled for other maintenance, is cost-efficient. “If the city skips putting these sidewalks in now, you’re all voting to lock in known safety deficiencies for decades.”

Safety and accessibility were two recurring themes brought up by delegations who came to Monday’s meeting to oppose the proposed motion. Opponents also expressed concerns over this setting a precedent in other neighbourhoods.

“Don’t allow communities to opt-out of the evidence-based plans based on vibes,” said Attrell. “If the ‘no sidewalks’ group succeeds in delaying or canceling these plans, you can be sure that other areas are going to be lining up to be excluded, probably for their own unique reasons.”

Coun. Glen Gower (Stitsville) noted that the policy to install sidewalks in Ottawa is “based on a foundation of some pretty solid policy.”

“In new neighbourhoods in our community in Stitsville, there’s sidewalks installed not in every street, but in most streets, because we know that’s the right thing to do, for accessibility reasons, for equity reasons,” he said.

Coun. King concluded the debate by clarifying that he supports sidewalks and pedestrian safety.

“Supporting sidewalks and questioning their placement here are not contradictory positions,” he said. “This is not about ideology, it’s about getting the location, the sequencing, and the prioritization, and the timing right.”

Ultimately, the motion was defeated in a 7–5 vote against deferral.

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But it won’t happen without council having final say after a motion was passed at Wednesday’s meeting.

The city first proposed pedestrianizing the narrow street that runs along the main market building back in 2021. The province granted the city $11.8 million in 2024 for the project.

Fast forward two years and city staff is now proposing to defer work on pedestrianizing William Street and reallocating the funding elsewhere.

At Wednesday’s council meeting, several councillors raised concerns about the plan and grilled city staff on what prompted the change in direction.

Coun. Jeff Leiper (Kitchissippi), who is running for mayor in the fall municipal election, questioned why the city wanted to defer the project.

Debbie Stewart, the city’s general manager of strategic initiatives, responded that it was because there are now more businesses in the area that are “very concerned” about the project than there were back in 2021. She blamed this on “a very uncertain economic environment.”

“There is a particular context today where those compounding impacts were really causing a much higher degree of concern,” she said.

Leiper was not satisfied, and asked for further clarification on the consultation process, as well as how the money would be reallocated.

He then joined to second a motion from Coun. Stéphanie Plante (Rideau-Vanier) that the proposal to reallocate the provincial funding towards the pedestrianization of William Street be subject to approval by council.

The motion passed, meaning city staff will have to present a report on the proposal to the finance and corporate services committee before advancing further.

Plante’s ward includes the Byward Market.

Responding to Leiper’s concerns, Stewart said consultations were led by the business improvement areas and business and property owners completed “their own parking survey and analysis with regards to the needs of parking.”

She said the money could be redirected to enhancing safety in the Market but it wouldn’t be spent on private security guards.

“There is recognition that for Ottawa, there are security challenges related to public drug use and an unhoused population, and … part of supporting the businesses is to support safety and security,” said Stewart.

“But it really is business focused in terms of … the measures that would support safety that the province does feel aligns with the priorities of that funding.”

Coun. Laine Johnson (College) expressed similar concerns surrounding the process that led to the proposal.

“Is this a typical process?” asked Johnson. “Are there other examples where we would see a change order of this magnitude on a grant received being done without any committee or councillor opportunities for motions?”

“I’m not aware of any, so I think this is quite a unique situation,” said Stewart.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe clarified to council that the proposal was for a deferral, rather than cancelling the plan altogether.

“The idea is that the pedestrianization of William Street is still planned to go ahead, but the work would be done in line with the work that is done on the ByWard Market building… So it’s not a change in vision, not a change in plan, just a change in timetable.”

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The plan intends to bring about greater opportunities to rural areas of Ottawa, and proposes a wide range of initiatives, including establishing a rural business liaison position and promoting rural Ottawa as a filming destination.

Through these initiatives, the plan aims to “reduce barriers, build on rural strengths, support emerging opportunities, and lay a strong foundation for future rural economic development programs and services.”

Coun. Isabelle Skalski (Osgoode) noted that the plan in its current form doesn’t yet address some key concerns for rural residents.

“The plan in my view still feels heavy on support and promotion and light on barrier removal,” she said. “The consistent message that I get from rural businesses is the need to remove barriers that stop investment from happening in the first place. Those barriers are very specific; there’s zoning constraints, approval timelines, fees, servicing limitations, inconsistent interpretation, gaps in the experience with well and septic innovations.”

Coun. Clarke Kelly (West Carleton-March) highlighted the need for transportation in rural areas, and specifically in the Carp Road Corridor, asking city staff if the plan would address this issue.

“We absolutely heard through the consultations that transportation is a challenge,” responded a staff member. “It’s a challenge for employees getting to places of work in our rural communities; it’s also a challenge for residents and visitors who want to frequent businesses and attractions that are in those rural communities.”

However, they noted that transportation is not exactly their area of jurisdiction. “Transportation, of course, is not our wheelhouse,” said the staff member, but added: “We’re very available and we’ll look to speak to or connect with our colleagues in transportation services to explore opportunities to address some of these challenges.”

The draft rural economic development plan is now available on the Engage Ottawa website, and is open for review until April 4.

The draft plan will then be presented once more to the committee on May 7.

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