Ottawa’s draft 2026 budget increases funding for affordable housing, food security, emergency services and public transit, while hiking property takes by 3.75 per cent.
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe called the budget a “balanced, responsible choice that protects affordability and invests in our residents’ priorities.”
Some of the more notable items include $938.7 million for OC Transpo, hiring 23 more paramedics, $3.6 million to replace breathing devices for firefighters and hiking the Ottawa Police Service budget by $26.1 million to recruit 25 new officers, deploy body cameras and launching district policing.
Boosting OC Transpo funding would come from an 8 per cent hike in the transit levy and a 2.5 increase in fare prices, though the rates for low-income monthly passes would stay flat.
Sutcliffe said the budget was making “historic” investments in public transit as the LRT expands into Orleans in the coming year and west towards Nepean in 2027, and the city acquires more emission-free buses.
During Wednesday’s council meeting, when the draft budgets were introduced, Sutcliffe repeatedly pointed to how council this term has increased spending on the priorities he ran in during the 2022 mayoral election as he prepares for next year’s vote.
He said the budget “protects” residents amidst an affordability crisis, while investing in “what matters most — public safety, public transit, affordable housing, supporting the most vulnerable, and improving roads, sidewalks and other infrastructure.”
Sutcliffe added that he would continue to fight to keep taxes low and secure funding from other orders of government.
Collectively, the budget calls for a 3.75 per cent property rate hike, the target agreed upon by council. Sutcliffe said it was lower than last year’s increase and was the lowest of any major city.
The budget includes $533 million on road resurfacing — up 50 per cent from council’s 2018-22 term — with money set aside to widen Carp Road, the realignment of Greenbank and starting design work to expand Brian Coburn Road.
Sidewalk rehabilitation will increase to $25.4 million as part of a 77 per cent increase from the previous council’s term, while funding was set aside to expand the Larry Robertson arena in Osgoode and build a new recreation centre in Riverside South.
Sutcliffe said the budget’s total envelope to help vulnerable populations came in at $222 million, including $400,000 for the youth homelessness action plan and boosting the food security budget by $466,000.
Sutcliffe said the ANCHOR program that provides non-police crisis workers to respond to mental health calls would cover more of Centretown, and with a $700,000 allotment would expand to another neighbourhood.
Collectively, council has invested $105 million in affordable housing since the start of its term in 2022, a dramatic hike from the $45 million figure seen in the prior four years, according to the mayor.
With the draft budget tabled, it will now be reviewed by all council committees and voted on by council at its Dec. 10 meeting.
The next municipal elections are scheduled for fall 2026.
