A re-elected Progressive Conservative provincial government will upload Ottawa’s light-rail transit (LRT) network to the province, Premier Doug Ford announced in Ottawa on Tuesday.
This would free up life cycle and capital payment funds for the City of Ottawa and upload and integrate the Ottawa LRT under Metrolinx, similar to the ownership model for local transit in other parts of Ontario.
With this move, the province would take responsibility for all operations and costs of the LRT, including the ongoing lawsuits associated with the system, which Ford said will save taxpayers money and “improve local services as we treat Ottawa fairly.”
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has been calling on both the provincial and federal governments to support Ottawa’s transit system. The 2025 City of Ottawa Budget involves substantial investments in public transit but requires an increase in transit fares and includes a $36 million gap in funding that the municipality hoped would be filled by upper levels of government.
On Jan. 29, the City received more than $180 million from the federal government towards public transit through the new Canada Public Transit Fund’s Baseline Funding stream. Through this investment, OC Transpo will receive annual funding amounting to over $180 million over 10 years to upgrade, replace and modernize Ottawa’s public transit system.
Tuesday’s announcement builds on the New Deal for Ottawa, announced in March 2024, which includes nearly $550 million in investments in infrastructure, roads and highways and social services in Ottawa.
“We’ve made historic investments in Ottawa because we recognize its importance as our nation’s capital, Ontario’s second-largest city and Eastern Ontario’s major economic hub,” said Doug Ford. “With the threat of President Trump’s tariffs continuing to loom over our province and country, it’s more important than ever that we invest to support taxpayers and critical infrastructure through our plan to protect Ontario.”
In a memo, city manager Wendy Stephanson said that while the City of Ottawa is engaged with the federal and provincial governments to secure funding but that the City has not entered any formal negotiations with the Ontario government at this time.
“It would be premature to speculate on details at this time,” the memo said. At the mayor’s request, city staff will provide council with an in-camera briefing about the potential financial and legal implications at the city council meeting on Feb. 12.
Shortly after Ford’s announcement, Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie issued a press release outlining her plan for supporting public transit in Ottawa, which also includes uploading the rail system to the province, in addition to extending light rail to Kanata and Barrhaven, uploading Highway 174 to the province and building a dedicated bus lane to Rockland.
“It’s time that Ottawa gets its fair share,” said Tyler Watt, Ontario Liberal candidate for Nepean, in the release. “Nepean has grown significantly over the past few years, but our community hasn’t been met with the investments needed to keep up with demand. We need to expand our roads, including Prince of Wales, connect our community to the LRT system, and finally start building the Barnsdale interchange. We can no longer be overlooked by our provincial government.”
“The people of Ottawa deserve a government that shows up for them,” said Crombie. “My team has always had Ottawa’s back.”
In a statement posted to X, Sutcliffe said that uploading the LRT system to the provincial government is a “game-changer” for Ottawa.
“It is, quite simply, the single biggest move we could make to address the fairness issue, strengthen the city’s financial picture, and improve light rail and public transit,” he said. “This is a historic win for our city.”
In reaction to Crombie’s announcement, Sutcliffe said “the more people behind fairness for Ottawa, the better. Great to see the momentum building for Ottawa to get meaningful help for public transit.”
