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 Ottawa Police Service is seeking witnesses to a serious collision involving a cyclist in the 2000 block of Haig Drive that occurred at approximately 6:17 a.m., on March 26th. At this time, it is believed that the cyclist may have fallen off their bicycle before being struck by an oncoming vehicle. The cyclist was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Investigators would like to speak with anyone who may not have spoken to officers on scene or who may have dash camera footage in the area around the time of the incident, and encourage anyone with information is asked to contact the OPS Collision Investigations Unit.

In a followup to a story from last week’s edition regarding the hit-and-run collision involving a school crossing guard, the Ottawa Police Service reported that a 19-year-old man was arrested in connection with this investigation. The Ottawa Police Service also expressed their condolences, stating “The Ottawa Police Service extends its deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Peter Clark, who tragically lost his life while serving as a school crossing guard. Crossing guards play a vital role in protecting children and families, standing in all conditions to ensure students can travel to and from school safely. Mr. Clark’s commitment to that responsibility reflects a service to the community that deserves our utmost respect and gratitude. This is a heartbreaking loss, and our thoughts are with the school community and all those affected.” The investigation remains ongoing, and additional information will be shared when available.

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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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The teams finished second and third, all but ensuring they would face off if they won their first round playoff series.

They did that in style.

The second-seed Barrie Colts eliminated Niagara in five games. The third-place Ottawa 67’s swept Kingston in four.

And with first-place Brantford cruising past their competition, the Colts and 67’s will play in the second-round of the playoffs, with Game 1 in Barrie set to go Thursday night.

The winner of the best-of-seven series will play either Brantford or fifth-seed North Bay in the conference championship, with a spot in the OHL title on the line.

The winner of the OHL championship will play in the Memorial Cup.

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Council’s public works and infrastructure committee on Monday agreed to advance a staff recommendation for a new transportation plan for the central Ottawa neighbourhood.

This includes a 12 to 15 month pilot project to create rush-hour bus-only lanes on a stretch of Bank Street from Highway 417 to the Rideau Canal. The proposal also calls for four segments of permanent bus-only lanes near Lansdowne Park.

The target start date is summer 2027.

Staff originally proposed the pilot would run 15 months, but Coun. Shawn Menard — whose ward includes the Glebe — asked for it to be trimmed to a year.

City council will ultimately decide on the length of the pilot when the proposal is brought forward for final approval.

Setting up bus-only lanes will cost $250,000, and the broader strategy — which will include what city staff call pedestrian and cycling improvements — will total $2.5 million.

Menard called the pilot a “long-time coming,” and praised staff for comprehensive consultations with businesses and residents in the Glebe.

“I think we’re in a much better spot now than we were before, and [I’m] very interested to be around, hopefully, when these results come out, and to see that proven data utilized in a good way for this streetscape.”

Transit advocates who spoke at the committee meeting on Monday largely supported the plan, saying buses running through the Glebe are often slowed by traffic along Bank

But Ajay Ramachandran of advocacy group Better Transit Ottawa called on the city to go further than having bus-only lanes in peak directions in the morning and afternoon. He warned that bus delays in one part of the city create a “cascade” effect elsewhere.

“If there are bus lanes only in the peak direction, the buses in the peak direction will still be canceled or delayed because of the non-peak direction buses,” he said.

Still, Ramachandran said it was “exciting to finally see this proposal getting close to being implemented,” and urged council to fast-track the plan to “give riders the relief they deserve during our bus reliability crisis.”

Darrell Cox, executive director of the Glebe Business Improvement Area, said his members opposed removing on-street parking spots for the bus-only lanes.

City staff said the permanent segments would eliminate 17 on-street parking spots, and the pilot project would restrict 146 spots in peak periods in the morning and afternoon.

Cox warned that most trips to Glebe businesses are made by car and making it more challenging to park could turn away customers. While there are spots available in nearby parking garages, he said the BIA’s research shows that customers overwhelmingly prefer on-street parking.

“Ensuring that the Glebe remains easy to reach is not a matter of convenience. It is matter of economic necessity,” Cox said, adding that some 80 members of the BIA signed an email petition opposing the project.

“At the end of the day, if access becomes too difficult, customers will not adapt. They will leave. If we get this wrong, we won’t just lose parking spaces, we lose businesses.”

Responding to a question from the committee, Cox said there are roughly 290 businesses located between Holmwood Avenue and the Queensway, but suspected more would sign the petition if BIA members went door-to-door.

A motion from Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo to make the pilot conditional on the approval of two-thirds of businesses along the strip was handily defeated. Only Lo and Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matt Luloff voted in favour.

Coun. Laine Johnson, who supported the pilot, said she believed the goal is “to try and unlock the potential for this site for as many people as possible.”

“Right now, different users are being shut out or avoiding it for… a whole host of reasons, and right now, the city is making an investment to try and figure out how to maximize the potential for this site,” she said.

Johnson said proposals like bus-only lanes in the Glebe are needed to ensure that city investments in transit bear fruit, likening it to buying a pricey Peloton bike but only using it to hang your clothes on.

“I think as the city we do need to start being a little less apologetic about putting transit first,” she said.

Johnson also commended staff for promising to set up a website to update residents on developments on the pilot, and asked for regular updates during the length of the project.

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The Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association’s (GOHBA) monthly report shows there were 278 sales recorded in February, up 9 per cent from the previous month and a 6.5 per cent improvement from February 2025.

However, year-to-date sales are down 6 per cent compared to 2025, signalling
“market conditions are still adjusting,” according to Jason Burggraaf, GOHBA’s executive director.

“Hopefully, recent clarity on the federal tax rebate will drive more sales in the last week of March and into April,” he said in a statement, referencing the Liberals’ bill to remove the GST on new-builds up to $1 million for first-time homebuyers becoming law earlier this month.

Geographically, the city’s south-end was the best performer in February, accounting for 46 per cent of all new home sales. The west end was next at 33, followed by the east with 19 per cent.

Central Ottawa, which offers more condominiums than other sections of the city, made up only 2 per cent of sales.

Reports have suggested sluggish condo pre-sales in the much larger Greater Toronto Area, depressing prices for existing inventory.

Similarly, condo apartments only made up 2 per cent of sales in Ottawa in February, while condo townhomes were responsible for 3 per cent.

Townhomes made up the lion’s share of sales, accounting for 54 per cent. Single-family homes made up 41 per cent.

Ottawa’s housing market has cooled since its pandemic heyday. While in 2023, year-to-date sales topped 1,200 by February, no year since has been higher than 567.

Sales for the first two months of 2026 total 533, the lowest since 2024, when interest rates shot up as the Bank of Canada sought to keep a lid on rising inflation.

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That figure comes from plans released by federal departments and agencies for 2026-27 outlining how they’ll shed billions of dollars to meet the government’s cost-cutting targets. Multiple part-time positions can make up one full-time equivalent position.

Rola Salem, spokesperson for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, said departments were asked to include in their reports details about the savings for each fiscal year until 2028-29. That included a description of how the savings would be achieved, the number of reductions in full-time equivalent positions and any measures that weren’t included in the last budget.

Among the expected job losses are 1,793 positions at Public Services and Procurement Canada, 900 jobs at Statistics Canada and 942 at Health Canada.

While the plans were supposed to offer clarity on how programs will be affected by the spending review, some departments offered only vague commitments to “streamline” services or “modernize” operations. Others said they were still figuring out where to find savings.

Several departments and agencies offered more concrete details of their plans.

They include the Canadian Space Agency, which said it plans to terminate work on the LEAP Lunar Rover Mission.

The Canada Revenue Agency said it plans to wind down business units that are no longer connected to government priorities, like the units that processed the Digital Services Tax and consumer carbon pricing.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it’s reducing “non-core research activities” and consolidating laboratory services to focus on essential testing and avoid the need for costly upgrades.

It says it’s also decommissioning some vehicle washing stations and winding down functions that are no longer required to address health risks linked to the trade in pets.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says it’s reducing the Low Carbon Economy Fund and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says it’s winding down some programs outside of its core mandate, like the Agricultural Climate Solution Living Labs program.

The plan for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces says the military will retire selected fleets that are nearing the end of their service lives, face rising sustainment costs or are no longer align with operational requirements. It says it will also sell off or lease “underutilized, obsolete or surplus” properties.

Library and Archives Canada says it’s gradually reducing Access to Information and Privacy functions and the proactive review of historical records functions over a three-year period. It’s also discontinuing funding for the Documentary Heritage Communities Program.

Public Services and Procurement Canada says it’s winding down the activities of the Canada General Standards Board and reducing funding for Laboratories Canada.

Several departments — including Shared Services Canada, the Department of Justice, Public Services and Procurement Canada and Public Safety Canada — outlined plans to use artificial intelligence to increase efficiency or improve service delivery.

David McLaughlin, former president and CEO of the Institute on Governance, said the plans offer “broad strokes” of the impacts of the spending review. He said while the documents offer “some transparency” about the review, more details are needed.

He said those details will come either from a separate document from the Department of Finance or Treasury Board or from questioning by opposition parties.

“You can’t tell … at this moment, at this stage, what will be the actual impact of that in terms of a service on the ground to certain people, certain demographics or in certain regions,” said McLaughlin. “It’s going to have to come through the detailed committee hearings.”

Treasury Board spokesman Moe Kamal said in an email Saturday that as proposed in Budget 2025, reductions in the federal workforce will be managed through attrition and voluntary departures as much as possible.

“Through this initiative, approximately 68,000 public servants received notifications that they may be eligible to retire early with an immediate pension based on years of service, with no penalty for leaving early, subject to criteria set by the Treasury Board,” Kamal said, adding the government will keep employees updated on its plans as information becomes available.

Appearing before the House committee on government operations this month, Secretary of the Treasury Board Bill Matthews said departments and agencies were told to target programs and activities that were underperforming, overlapped with other programs or were not aligned with government priorities.

Michael Wernick, former clerk of the Privy Council, said the departmental plans “set the table” for parliamentary review.

He said members of Parliament will be trying to “squeeze out more detail” during committee meetings.

“The game to be played this year is the opposition will be trying to suss out details on what’s being cut, or in some cases augmented, looking for nuggets that they can go after and criticize,” Wernick said.

Conservative MP and Treasury Board critic Stephanie Kusie said the documents offer “no clear road map for the departments.”

“They’ve updated the (full-time equivalent) numbers, but it’s not clear as to line by line how they’re going to achieve this within each department,” she said. “Even though there is a decrease in the full-time equivalents, we’re still seeing an increase in spending.”

Kusie said it’s “concerning” that some departmental reports lack details about which programs and services will be affected by cuts. She said she expected more detailed information and a clearer path, given that departments have had months since the release of the budget.

“It makes me wonder, do they know what they’re doing or are they not quite certain as of yet?” she said. “I’m worried about it for transparency.”

“I definitely think after reviewing these plans that it merits more specific questions to departments.”

Federal unions are sounding the alarm over the planned job cuts. Public Service Alliance of Canada national president Sharon DeSousa said the cuts aren’t about efficiency but are an “attack on the public service itself.”

“By eliminating thousands of jobs, the government is weakening the very programs people in Canada rely on,” she said.

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The 15-month pilot program would limit access to some lanes for just buses from 7 to 10 a.m. northbound on Bank Street from Highway 417 to the Rideau Canal. Bus-only lanes would operate along that stretch from 3 to 6 p.m. northbound.

There would be four segments of the lanes reserved for buses 24 hours a day, according to the city-staff recommended proposal. This would be a permanent change, with the segments mostly near Lansdowne Park. The longest is 190 metres and the shortest is around 70.

The plan is laid out in the agenda for the March 30 meeting of city council’s public works and infrastructure committee. The proposed start date is summer 2027.

City staff said in the report that introducing the bus-only lanes means eliminating some curbside parking on Bank Street.

Modelling of the project shows “modest travel time savings” and city staff believe the bus-only lanes will “increase reliability and reduce travel time variability,” the report reads.

Staff said bus-only lanes are most effective when replacing curbside parking, but acknowledged it could have “negative implications for businesses.”

“As a result, any extension of the bus lane hours outside the peak period, peak direction must carefully weigh the trade-offs associated with reducing on-street parking and curbside access availability.”

The report said segments of 24-hour bus lanes at Fifth Avenue will reduce the number of on-street parking spaces on Bank Street from 146 to 129, a drop of 17.

If the time-of-day bus lanes are extended to 24 hours-a-day, the street will lose 76 spaces on the east side and 70 on the west.

City staff said data shows there’s “generally sufficient parking available within the area to accommodate the loss of on-street parking spaces during a typical weekday.” They noted the presence of parking on side streets and municipal parking garages at Lansdowne and on Second Avenue.

But the report noted that the “study team heard concerns from businesses that these locations are not as convenient for customers,” with the Lansdowne garage “perceived as primarily serving the Lansdowne site itself.”

Other proposed changes to the Bank Street corridor include a new transit priority signal at Exhibition Way and introducing ladder style crosswalks at several crossings.

The proposal recommends improving cycling access on streets that run parallel to Bank, saying it’s “challenging to find space to enhance cycling in the corridor” because of the “constrained right-of-way north of Holmwood Avenue.”

Any decision from the committee would need to be approved by city council.

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Game 1 of their best-of-seven series will take place in Ottawa on Friday, followed by game 2 on Sunday.

The two Eastern Ontario teams closed out the regular season on Saturday, with Ottawa routing the Frontenacs 6-2 on home ice. Ottawa and Kingston also faced off in each team’s first game of the 2025-26 OHL season back in September, with Ottawa winning by a lopsided 6-1 margin.

The 67’s finished third in the conference with 100 points, while Kingston took the 6th spot with 71 points.

As the higher-seed, Ottawa has home-ice advantage and hosts games 1 and 2, and if necessary, games 5 and 7.

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City councillor Tim Tierney says Ottawa is staring down the barrel of a potential transit nightmare as it’s unclear if a planned expansion of light-rail service will come online before public servants return to the office four-days-a-week in July.

He accused OC Transpo of keeping council and residents in the dark on plans to start testing vehicles on a new extension of the city’s main light-rail line to the east end.

The extension project received a certificate of substantial completion earlier this month, but there hasn’t been any information provided since on when testing will start. There’s also no date for a promised technical briefing.

Revenue service can only start after vehicles run on the line without error for 21 days straight and tests are conducted to ensure systems are ready.

Making matters worse is that OC Transpo only has 20 train cars available now and would need 45 for the tests, according to Tierney.

With mechanical issues continuing to plague the existing line, Tierney said he doesn’t understand how OC Transpo will meet its target of getting the extension up and running by the end of the second quarter of 2026.

“They still think that the math supports waiting until they can complete this and have operating paid service by the end of the second quarter,” he told iPolitics in an interview on Thursday.

“I just don’t see the math, and we still don’t have that date for a technical briefing.”

The city’s light-rail project has been mired in controversy since the first segment of the Confederation Line came online in 2019.

READ MORE: It’s been four years since Ottawa’s LRT public inquiry. Where does the train stand now?

Mechanical issues and derailments plagued the start of revenue service, and the province ordered a public inquiry to investigate the project in 2022.

The inquiry’s final report found that the system’s failures were caused not by a single technical issue, but by a combination of unproven technology, complex contracts and governance failures.

It also concluded that senior city officials withheld key information from councillors about the system’s final testing phase, limiting council’s oversight of the project.

The report came as the city was already in the process of extending the line to the east, west and south.

The southern extension expanded the oldest section of the O-Train — dubbed the Trillium Line — and connected Bayview in Little Italy to Riverside South. It also included a spur to bring train service to the Ottawa airport.

It started service in early 2025, years later than originally planned.

The 12.5- kilometre eastern extension will add five new stations and bring rail service from Blair all the way to Trim station in Orleans.

It has also faced delays, but transit officials expressed confidence it would start revenue service in the first half of 2026.

Tierney, who represents the Beacon Hill-Cyrville ward in the city’s east, warned of a nightmare scenario for Ottawa commuters if OC Transpo doesn’t hit that target.

That’s because public servants will return to the office four-days-a-week starting in July, adding tens of thousands of commuters to the city’s roads and transit lines. Students will then return to classes in September, putting further strain on the transportation network.

The existing O-Train line is also struggling with mechanical issues, forcing OC Transpo to run single-vehicle cars.

If new rail service doesn’t come online soon, Tierney said it’s unclear how the transit provider will deal with increased demand from public servants and students, with the city boasting fewer than 500 buses. (The city has reduced the size of its bus fleet as it has replaced its rapid-bus network with light-rail service.)

“The whole point of seeing the line go online for the east end was to actually add more buses back to our complement. If that doesn’t happen, then we have this new challenge of buses that aren’t coming in quick enough,” he said, calling it a “perfect storm” of challenges.

That’s why Tierney said he needs to hear answers from OC Transpo on how it will handle the increased traffic.

“I want to know what that plan is if the line goes down. Are there going to be extra buses to be able to subsidize those stations for the missing train? There are a lot of very important questions, and we need that technical briefing,” he said.

“I’m going to continue to press the mayor’s office to make sure that OC Transpo actually comes out and sets the date for the meeting.”

Richard Holder, the city’s director of the rail construction program, told the transit committee last week that trial running would only commence once OC Transpo has the appropriate trains to complete the tests.

“We’re very eager to inform councillors when that technical briefing will take place. But what we need to have in place [is] an understanding of when the vehicles will be available to perform the trial, running. So, that really is the next step.”

When pressed by Tierney about the testing process, Holder said more answers would be provided at the yet-to-be scheduled technical briefing.

Troy Charter, the city’s interim general manager of Transit Services, blamed mechanical issues that have taken offline train cars with axels that have more than 100,000 kilometres of mileage for preventing staff from nailing down the date of briefings on the east extension and return to full service on the existing line.

“We really need to focus on finalizing the containment plan, which would allow for the return of the fleet [and] the lifting of the 100,000 kilometre restriction. And then once that’s done, then we can solidify those two dates,” he said at the committee meeting.

“We’re making good progress, and I think we are close to being able to schedule that date. I know that’s frustrating because this has been lasting for a long time, but we are getting very, very close to being able to schedule those two technical briefings.”

Another logistic challenge facing the transit provider is dealing with passengers during the testing phase. Tierney said the line needs to run from Tunney’s Pasture to Trim, but passengers can’t be on board pass the current terminus of Blair station.

“What happens to people at Blair when they say, ‘I’m staying on this train’ and they decide not to get off? You have to stop the train because you can’t have passenger service until it’s certified for 21 days of running. Does that affect that 21-day performance? Do you start the clock again? Obviously, you would,” he explained.

“These are very important questions, and we really need to know the answers, and we’re not getting them.”

Holder said that trains running between Blair and Trim stations wouldn’t carry passengers but service would continue on the rest of the line.

When asked by Tierney at committee, Holder said OC Transpo would direct customers off the trains at Blair.

Tierney vowed to continue to raise his concerns over the east extension with local media and at council and transit committee, calling it the “biggest challenge” he’s seen facing OC Transpo in his 16 years in office.

“I’ve been pretty [much] like a dog with a bone on this one for the last while,” he said.

“[The next] transit committee meeting takes place in three weeks. I’ll be there raising the same questions. I’m hoping before we get to that meeting, they’re going to announce when this briefing is going to take place, because the public’s fed up. They need to know”

A western extension of the O-Train that will run from Tunney’s Pasture to Moodie near Bell’s Corner and include a spur to Algonquin College’s main campus is expected to enter service in 2027.

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