Leiper says LRT upload windfall would be 'swallowed up' by existing budget gaps

An OC Transpo LRT train makes its way along Line 1 on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia

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OC Transpo will be running a deficit of $12.35 million by the end of the calendar year, according to staff projections set to be tabled at the Tuesday, Sept. 1, meeting of the finance and corporate services committee.

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That number is significantly less than the $52 million deficit OC Transpo posted in 2025, but the 2026 projections also come with an “anticipated” windfall of about $47 million from the expected provincial upload of the city’s LRT system to Metrolinx.

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But Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, who is challenging Sutcliffe in the mayoral race and who serves on both the transit committee and the finance and corporate services committee, cautioned that any provincial windfall would likely be “swallowed up” by other operational gaps.

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Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower, who chairs the transit committee, said at the time that the upload would put the LRT under the ownership and control of Metrolinx — the agency that runs most of the commuter rail service in southern Ontario — which would bring its “scale, leverage and experience” to Ottawa.

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Gower said there is no firm timeline on when the upload could be finalized, however, and he said in April that a time frame of 12 to 18 months would be a “safe bet.”

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An OC Transpo LRT train makes its way along Line 1 on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia

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Sutcliffe said the upload is a “complicated” transaction with the province and declined to provide a firmer timeline when asked by reporters in mid-August.

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“I don’t want to put a timeline on it … the important thing is that it gets done,” he said.

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According to the recent staff report, the budgeted $47 million in provincial funding “continues to be in scope to be received within 2026.”

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Council increased its funding allocation from the tax stabilization reserve to $47 million in 2026 (from $36 million in 2025) “in recognition of the continued uncertainty surrounding fare revenue recovery and future funding commitments from senior levels of government.”

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Leiper pointed to several other items in the staff report that underscore “structural gaps” at OC Transpo that would need to be “backfilled” by any funding the City of Ottawa receives from the province.

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“I don’t think any reasonable observer believes that the deal will be finalized by the end of the year,” Leiper said in an interview Monday. “It’s highly uncertain as to when that deal might be signed, and it is uncertain as to what the value of that will be. Right now, we have an agreement with the province to talk about an agreement — and that’s all.”