city council notebook: oc transpo to offer free fare weekend in may
plus: expanding allowances for homeless shelters, recruiting family doctors and asking the province's help to tackle stunt driving
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new ways to bus signs are going up at oc transpo stops across ottawa on monday.
tony caldwell
/
postmedia
oc transpo will be holding a free fare weekend on may 3 and 4 with all buses and trains running at no cost, the transit authority announced april 17.
the customer appreciation weekend would be held to celebrate the successful openings of the trillium lines 2 and 4 in january, to thank riders for their support and to encourage customers to explore the newly designed bus routes, said oc transpo general manager renée amilcar.
the weekend of no-charge service includes buses, o-train lines 1, 2 and 4, and para transpo, said amilcar in a memo released april 17.
the “new ways to bus” campaign is set to launch on april 27 with a major overhaul of the bus transit network, including more than 100 route changes that will affect most customers and bus routes.
oc transpo will be hosting an interactive event at hurdman station on may 3 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. where staff will engage with customers about new services, customer experience improvements, safety initiatives and more, said amilcar.
more details of the no-charge service weekend will be shared through oc transpo’s website and social media, and through posters in stations and other advertisements and announcements.
amilcar told councillors at last week’s transit committee the bus network redesign “will give customers a more reliable and efficient system” as oc transpo aims to improve service to its target of 99.5 per cent reliability.
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the 12-month average service delivery for oc transpo bus service was 97.6 per cent for the period from march 2024 to march 2025, or 1.9 per cent lower than its target.
expanding shelter allowances
council approved an amendment to its zoning bylaw this week to expand allowances for homeless shelters across the city’s urban zones, with some exceptions.
city staff recommended emergency shelters and transitional shelters should be permitted in all zones in the downtown core, inner urban, outer urban and suburban areas, with the exception of industrial zones, rural and environmentally-protected areas.
barrhaven east coun. wilson lo noted his dissent and said council was bypassing consultations that would have been part of the ongoing zoning bylaw review, which is set for a committee vote in december. the expansion of shelter allowances was moved forward on the agenda.
lo cited the “bungled” process around using temporary tent-like structures commonly known under the brand name sprung structures to house asylum seekers. a plan released last november to build tent-like structures in kanata and nepean stirred up controversy. the city shelved the plans last month as the number of asylum seekers in ottawa has decreased.
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lo noted his concern over advancing the shelter expansion “to accelerate something by a mere nine months.”
“with sprung structures we saw what happens with poor process,” lo said. “the initial location selection, procurement and the lack of public engagement (were) all rushed, bypassed or bungled to the point where conversation strayed far from the actual item toward questions about process and trust.”
coun. allan hubley directed staff to review the definitions for shelter uses as part of its current zoning bylaw overhaul to ensure those definitions align with the city’s official plan and with the community and social services department.
hubley also asked that each ward councillor be notified of a proposed shelter in advance “to advise on the best approach for communication and public engagement.”
family doctor recruitment and retention strategy
council adopted a motion from rideau-vanier coun. stéphanie plante directing city staff to explore short- and long-term recommendations to address the critical shortage of family doctors.
the motion directs the city’s strategic initiatives staff to study the measures taken by other ontario municipalities, to hold discussions with the eastern ontario physician recruitment alliance and other institutions and report back with recommendations for a primary care provider recruitment and retention strategy.
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plante said the motion, seconded by mayor mark sutcliffe, does not tie the city to any financial commitment or incentives and “merely looks at what other municipalities are doing and the potential linkages” with local health care partners.
plante cited a 2022-23 ontario medical association study that found 40 per cent of physicians in the province are considering retiring within the next five years. the oma calculated almost 200,000 people in the ottawa area were without a family doctor in 2022 and that number is surely higher now, she said.
according to a 2023 ottawa public health report, up to 150,000 residents did not have access to a regular primary care provider before the covid-19 pandemic. the report delivered a dire warning from the ontario college of family physicians that as many as 318,000 ottawa residents could be without a family doctor by 2026 if urgent action is not taken.
plante said her office met with the university of ottawa faculty of medicine student affairs office last year. the faculty graduated 64 students specializing in family medicine in 2024, she said.
“do you know how many stayed in the nation’s capital to set up a practice or join a family health team? zero. not one,” plante told fellow councillors. “and these are people who have stayed here, lived here for almost eight years finishing their studies. none of them stayed.”
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rideau-rockcliffe coun. rawlson king applauded the motion and said the numbers speak for themselves.
“this isn’t just a health care issue, it’s a community emergency that affects our most vulnerable residents,” king said.
“having a reliable primary care provider is fundamental to health and well-being.”
stunt driving and vehicle crime crackdown
council passed a motion from coun. david hill asking sutcliffe to write to ontario’s solicitor general to explore solutions to address rising vehicle crimes.
according to hill’s motion, 370 stunt driving charges where laid in ottawa last year, representing a 98 per cent increase since 2019.
stunt driving “is a reckless crime that puts the driver, other road users and members of the public at large in danger and disrupts our communities with noise violations in the middle of the night,” said hill.
his motion also cites the rash of vehicle thefts in ottawa, with 1,705 vehicles stolen in 2024 and 309 reported thefts in the first quarter of 2025.
hill asked the mayor to inquire with the ministry about proposals ranging from new legislation that would allow police to use sound detection technology to target illegal exhaust modifications, strengthening existing legislation for vehicle theft crimes and the highway traffic act for stunt racing, especially for repeat offenders, as well as introducing an assigned vehicle identification number program to crack down on the sale of stolen vehicles within ontario.
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