Little for Ottawa in Ontario’s Budget

Ontario’s 2026 budget doesn’t address Premier Doug Ford’s earlier promise to upload Ottawa’s LRT, leaving the city with a growing transit funding issue and no solutions ahead.

The Ford government’s eighth budget, unveiled on Thursday and named Plan to Protect Ontario, claims to include measures aimed at boosting the provincial economy as unemployment reaches 7.6 per cent. However, it also predicts a $13.8-billion deficit-far larger than the previously estimated $7.8 billion.

While the new budget highlights significant LRT and transit initiatives in the Greater Toronto Area like subway extensions and expanding the Go Transit network in key locations across western Ontario, there’s absolutely no mention of supporting Ottawa’s struggling transit system or addressing OC Transpo’s financial challenges.

“It’s very disappointing,” said David Jeanes, a board member with Transport Action Canada.

“It sounds as though either there is no role for the province in actually solving our problems with transit in Ottawa, or they just haven’t figured out what they can do.”

The province reaffirms its nearly $1-billion commitment to assist the Toronto Transit Commission in purchasing 55 new trains and $850 million towards refurbishing GO Transit train cars as part of its 10-year, $63-billion transit plan.

“I’m afraid that the fact that the major investment is all targeted to the Greater Toronto Area obviously has a lot to do with politics,” Jeanes said.

“But it also has to do with the fact that so much of Ontario’s population and wealth and industry is concentrated in that horseshoe around the western end of Lake Ontario.”

Meanwhile, Ottawa’s transit funding situation has worsened.

A report released this week showed OC Transpo ended last year with a $52-million deficit due to falling fare revenue and insufficient support from other levels of government. This figure is even worse than the mid-year forecast of a $47 million deficit.

WATCH | Our talk with the finance minister:

Ontario finance minister breaks down what the budget means for Ottawa

Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario’s finance minister, talks with CBC’s Rachelle Elsiufi about what the budget has in store for Ottawa.

‘It feels like we’re being overlooked’

The city’s 2026 budget included a $46-million “placeholder” for transit based on expectations that Metrolinx would take over responsibility for its LRT system. Last month, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe mentioned on CBC’s Ottawa Morning that “it takes time but we’re moving the ball down the field” on this matter.

“There is nothing that targets [Ottawa] specifically,” said University of Ottawa political science professor Geneviève Tellier in French after examining Thursday’s budget documents. “It feels like we’re being overlooked.”

Tellier observed that overall there were “almost no new announcements” within the provincial budget; most new initiatives are provincewide, such as “the famous HST holiday on new homes.”

The budget does reference some “next steps” related to road projects within the region including plans to widen Highway 17 between Renfrew and Arnprior. A request for proposals regarding designing this 22.5-kilometre expansion has been issued; however, further details about timelines or costs remain unclear.

The province took its first concrete step toward this twinning project back in November 2023 when a new bridge and interchange was opened at Calabogie Road in Renfrew County.

The budget also outlines plans by the province to fund maintenance and rehabilitation work on Highway 174 located in Ottawa’s east end but lacks updated figures concerning those efforts. As part of its “new deal” with Ottawa announced last year, provincial authorities pledged they would take charge of operating and maintaining this highway starting from 2024. Shifting to HART hubs
The province had already disclosed plans involving cutting funds directed towards seven supervised consumption sites throughout Ontario-including two situated within Ottawa-as part of transitioning away from harm reduction methods toward an abstinence-focused model known as homelessness and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hubs.

This latest budget reiterates governmental intentions regarding scaling back funding provided for active drug injection facilities across Ontario while promoting their HART hub framework but fails to introduce any additional financial resources allocated specifically towards these projects.

$41 million over three years will be set aside across the province aimed at establishing school resource officer programs after Bill 33 was passed last November; however Ottawa’s largest educational district terminated its program back during 2021 following concerns raised by racialized groups along side students belonging to marginalized identities concerning police presence inside classrooms.

(In January 2025 alone local law enforcement launched an initiative appointing one officer assigned directly into each district encompassing four separate areas throughout town rather than targeting individual institutions.)

No clear strategy presented itself through this proposal seeking solutions addressing ongoing deficits currently faced among several school boards existing within proximity surrounding communities.

An analysis conducted recently by indicated approximately two-thirds outta seventy-two boards remained either teetering upon deficits or barely breaking even financially speaking.

This includes considerable difficulties presently impacting The largest board serving students hailing from​ ottawa-the ottawa-carleton district school board-experiencing upwards totals near eleven point five million dollars worth losses sustained throughout their current academic calendar requiring them consider accessing emergency funds already depleted significantly since past operations commenced(Previously available cash reserves have dwindled downwards considerably owing prior expenditures!).P

Please note: according Prof. Tellier municipalities seem grossly neglected under circumstances surrounding these budgets outlined forth today(“If we had name big losers regard relation budgets I’d say municipalities since aren’t consulted explicitly stated nor offered suggestions”).P

 (*“Total silence prevails front”*) 

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