Sutcliffe would cut monthly OC Transpo pass from $138.50 to $95

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is asking voters for a second term with a transit plan built around lowering OC Transpo fares, funded in part by a proposed deal to transfer the city's LRT system to the Ontario government. The Kitchissippi Times published a detailed review of his re-election platform on 21 October 2026.

The transit plan

Sutcliffe's campaign says it would reduce the adult monthly pass from $138.50 to $95, a saving of more than $500 a year for someone who buys a pass every month. The plan would also add a $10 daily fare cap and a two-hour transfer window. Free transit for youth would become permanent during the summer and on evenings and weekends, and Para Transpo fares would go down as well. A bulk transit-pass program for major employers, including the federal government, is also part of the proposal.

The platform calls for 200 new buses by 2030, along with 250 additional drivers and mechanics, and the return of several suburban express routes. For the Kitchissippi area, the plan includes a continuous bus lane along Carling Avenue between Lincoln Fields Station and Sherwood Drive, part of what the campaign describes as more than $1.3 billion in bus rapid transit and bus-lane projects.

The Kitchissippi Times reported that Sutcliffe's campaign characterizes a proposed LRT infrastructure transfer to the Ontario government as a $4 billion provincial investment, with the financial capacity released by the deal reinvested into OC Transpo. His campaign says lower fares would also attract more riders, adding fare revenue that offsets part of the cost.

Taxes and spending

Sutcliffe is promising to keep property tax increases at between two and 2.5 per cent in each of the first two years of a second term. His campaign is pledging $250 million in savings over four years, including a hiring freeze for some non-frontline city positions. The Kitchissippi Times noted that the citywide increase was 3.75 per cent in the 2026 budget.

Sutcliffe also warned that provincial property reassessments, postponed since the pandemic, would eventually push individual bills higher even if the tax rate held steady.

Other commitments

On public safety, Sutcliffe's campaign is promising to hire 200 additional police officers, 100 paramedics and 50 firefighters, and to expand the ANCHOR program, which dispatches civilian crisis workers to some calls. On housing, the campaign has set a goal to end youth homelessness in Ottawa by 2030.

On flooding, the Kitchissippi Times reported that the campaign is proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in storm sewer and drainage infrastructure. Sutcliffe said he has committed to going neighbourhood by neighbourhood to determine what work is needed.

Ottawa's voting day is 26 October 2026. Voting places are open from 10 am to 8 pm. You can check where to vote at the City of Ottawa's election page, or see all Ottawa mayoral candidates at /on/ottawa-2026/candidates#mayor.