--- title: "Ottawa police face $21.8 million budget shortfall as new council prepares to take office" description: "Ottawa's police service expects a $21.8 million deficit in 2026. Overtime costs account for nearly half of it, and the new city council will confront the problem when members are sworn in on November 15." canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/ottawa-2026/news/ottawa-police-budget-deficit-long-read-2026-11-01" last_updated: "2026-11-01T17:14:33.333Z" --- Ottawa's police service expects to end 2026 with a $21.8 million deficit, a third-quarter report shows. Overtime costs account for nearly half of it, and the service has been running a spending restraint program since February to hold the shortfall below last year's $28.9 million. The 2027 budget, which will arrive before the city in the weeks ahead, will be one of the first major decisions for the new council sworn in on November 15. ## What the deficit is The $21.8 million figure comes from the third-quarter report covering July, August and September, which the chief's office has prepared for the Ottawa Police Services Board Finance and Audit Committee meeting on Friday, November 6. CBC reported the number on October 30. The projected shortfall is $21.8 million, compared to the $21.6 million deficit forecast in the second-quarter report three months earlier. At the start of this decade, Ottawa police deficits ran at about $10 million a year. They rose to $28.9 million in 2025. The 2026 figure, if it holds, would be a $7.1 million improvement on last year. ## Why overtime is the central problem The chief's report says the force expects $10 million in overtime costs to "meet the needs of the organization and the community to ensure adequate and effective policing," as CBC cited it. Front-line policing generates the largest share of those hours. Court security and the communications centre follow. In 2025, Ottawa police paid out $11.2 million in overtime. The 2026 projection of $10 million in overtime pressure represents an ongoing strain that the force has not been able to eliminate. ## Other costs adding to the shortfall Three other items in the report account for most of the remaining gap. A landfill search connected to a homicide investigation cost $4.6 million, the CBC report said. The report does not name the investigation. The search was unspecified in the public document, and this article does not name any individual connected to it. Recruiting and onboarding new officers is projected to cost about $3 million. The service has been adding staff, and the cost of hiring and training those officers lands in the current year's budget. Higher fuel prices have added about $1 million to the total. Together, those three items plus overtime account for the bulk of the $21.8 million gap. ## What the force has done to control spending The service started a spending restraint plan in February 2026. It has scaled back some overtime and left some positions vacant. By the time the third-quarter report was completed, those steps had saved the force about $9 million. The report says the service is still looking for another $2.2 million in savings before the year ends. It is also developing a long-range financial plan that covers 2026 through 2036, and is planning an efficiency review. That review is expected to inform future budget submissions to the city and to the police services board. ## The November 6 committee meeting The Finance and Audit Committee of the Ottawa Police Services Board will review the third-quarter report on Friday, November 6. The same meeting is expected to include an update on the 2027 budget timeline. The committee is a public body and its meetings are open. Residents can watch or attend through the city's meetings site at [pub-ottawa.escribemeetings.com](https://pub-ottawa.escribemeetings.com/). ## What this means for the new council Ottawa's new city council, including re-elected Mayor [Mark Sutcliffe](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/mark-sutcliffe), takes office on November 15. The 2027 city budget will be one of its first major pieces of work. The police budget is part of the city's overall budget, so the council will decide how much the city allocates to policing for the coming year. CBC noted this directly in its October 30 report: "The next city budget will be one of the first major tasks for Ottawa's new city council once members are sworn in." During the campaign, Sutcliffe made a promise to keep the property tax increase to no more than 3 percent annually. The police service is now projecting a shortfall that has run well above $10 million for two consecutive years. The council will need to decide whether to provide more money, require further savings from the force, or some combination of both. The tracker at [/on/ottawa-2026/tracker](/on/ottawa-2026/tracker) follows the promises Sutcliffe and councillors made about city finances and will record how those decisions land. ## What you can do If you want to follow the police budget review, the Finance and Audit Committee meets November 6. The agenda and instructions for attending are on the city's meetings site at [pub-ottawa.escribemeetings.com](https://pub-ottawa.escribemeetings.com/). City Council budget deliberations will begin after the new council is sworn in on November 15. Those meetings are also open, and the city publishes agendas at the same site. The budget process will run through the winter into early 2027. ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/on/ottawa-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.