After three hours of discussion, debate, and questions to members of the Ottawa Police Services (OPS), Ottawa city council on Wednesday approved the draft OPS operating budget for 2026. The budget represents a $26.1 million increase in police taxation revenues, or a 5 per cent increase compared to 2025.
Discussion centred around a few key subject areas, including the Ford government’s recent ban on speeding cameras in Ontario, and what it means for policing speeding in Ottawa.
“We are doing as much as we can with what we have,” said Ottawa police chief Eric Stubbs.
“With the speed enforcement cameras no longer in the city, that was another tool, another layer that we could use to help us with road safety. There’s more on us now.”
He noted that as of Dec. 15, the OPS will be launching new district-specific traffic units, which will consist initially of one sergeant and four constables assigned to each district.
Another major subject of discussion was the Alternate Neighbourhood Crisis Response (ANCHOR) program. The program, which consists of a community-based mobile crisis team and a non-911 number for triaging mental health and substance use calls, was launched in 2024, beginning with Centretown but expected to expand to other neighbourhoods of Ottawa in a phased approach.
Many councillors expressed their support of the program, although some emphasized that the program is not a replacement for the OPS.
Coun. Matthew Luloff (Orléans East-Cumberland), pointed to the Office of the Auditor General’s recent audit of OPS staffing. “The audit made it very clear that the OPS is operating with outdated staffing and deployment standards that no longer reflect the realities of modern policing in a growing city,” he said. “ANCHOR does not replace core police services.”
Coun. Sean Devine (Knoxdale-Merivale) highlighted that ANCHOR was launched in response to a growing trend for alternate public safety programs across North America. Using the example of the City of Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program, he noted substantial cost savings.
“Every incident responded to by the STAR program cost $150 USD, whereas every incident responded to by the Denver police cost $650 USD,” he said. “If the same differential applies [in Ottawa] . . . and if programs like ANCHOR are showing positive results in responding to and lowering incidents of crime, then that’s a compelling reason for making the most effective and sustainable use for taxpayer resources.”
Coun. Cathy Curry (Kanata North), who also sits on the OPS board, underscored that the majority component of the OPS budget increase is going towards compensation under the organization’s collective agreement.
“One of the things we did in that collective agreement was ensuring that the women on the force have excellent maternity benefits, something that hasn’t happened in 10 years. . . so the women on this council that are all about women, gender equity . . . they need to support this police budget because of what it does for women and female officers and encouraging women to go into this career.”
Coun. Sean Devine (Knoxdale-Merivale) also noted the realities of the OPS collective agreement.
“I am going to be supporting the police budget, and that’s not necessarily because I think that the police are more deserving of a 5 per cent increase than other departments getting a 2 per cent increase, but rather because the OPS are in a better position to ask and receive such an increase.”
Coun. Theresa Kavanaugh (Bay) expressed her internal conflict relating to the police budget, noting the complexity of the situation.
“This isn’t just about the police budget,” she said. “This is about our overall budget and how we deal with the causes . . . Just the fact that no one can afford rent, that no one can afford meals,” she said.
“I find that the police are kind of the dumping ground for our concerns in society, and we need to look at the bigger picture. . . I wasn’t originally going to support the budget, but I will be — but I do not feel comfortable about it, very much because I know what the causes are, and I want to know that we’re going to do better on those things.”
Of the 25-person council, five councillors voted “nay” on the police budget: Councillors Laine Johnson (College), Shawn Menard (Capital), Ariel Troster (Somerset), Jessica Bradley (Gloucester-Southgate), and Rawlson King (Rideau-Rockcliffe). The remaining 19 councillors and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe voted in favour.
