Federal Government Worried About Ottawa Transit for Return-to-Office

Canada's top public servant, Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia, met with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe in February to discuss one urgent issue: whether Ottawa's transit system could actually handle an influx of federal workers returning to the office.

The worry, buried in an internal federal memo obtained through access to information, was blunt: OC Transpo is failing to meet its own targets, and hundreds of buses are being cancelled every day.

The numbers tell the story. OC Transpo delivered only 97.8 to 98.4 percent of planned bus trips in late 2025 and early 2026—missing its 99.5 percent target by a meaningful margin. That translates to hundreds of daily cancellations during peak hours. On frequent routes, only one in five buses arrives on time. Less frequent routes perform even worse.

The O-Train's north-to-south lines are holding steady, but Line 1—the east-west route the city has been fighting for years—continues to operate at reduced capacity due to axle bearing problems. That forces single-car runs instead of doubles, creating a reliability gap that persists with no clear timeline for full restoration.

The federal government is ramping up its return-to-office push: executives have been required onsite five days a week since May 4, and other employees are expected back four days weekly starting July 6. Public Services and Procurement Canada is now coordinating with the city on transit demand projections, but the memo makes clear that employee satisfaction with the bus network sits at just 2.91 out of five.

Mayor Sutcliffe acknowledged the reality in a recent news conference, saying the city needs to "fix the trains, provide better leadership, strengthen the workforce, and build more reliable buses." He insists pieces are "starting to come together," though nobody's claiming we're there yet. For now, thousands of federal workers heading back downtown will be betting that Ottawa's transit system can keep up.