Auditor general’s investigation finds several OC Transpo management hires lacked qualifications

OC Transpo headquarters is pictured in this undated photo. (Ian Urbach/CTV News Ottawa)

An investigation by the City of Ottawa’s auditor general found several instances of management positions at OC Transpo being filled by candidates who did not meet the necessary qualifications.

According to a report prepared for Tuesday’s audit committee meeting, the investigation began following reports to the city’s fraud and waste hotline, which alleged that OC Transpo was bypassing formal hiring processes, such as open competition, in favour of appointing personally selected individuals, and appointing individuals lacking in the necessary qualifications.

The investigation’s scope looked solely at the hiring practices between 2021 and 2025 concerning management and professional exempt (MPE) positions, which make up a small percentage of all OC Transpo employees. According to the report, there were 234 MPE positions at OC Transpo in 2025, accounting for 6.37 per cent of all OC Transpo staff.

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters

The positions looked at include superintendents, program managers, managers and directors. The investigation was limited to recruitment and staffing actions raised within reports to the fraud and waste hotline and did not include a review of additional recruitment and staffing actions to assess the pervasiveness of the issues raised, the report says.

The investigation substantiated the complaints related to staffing appointments and the hiring of some positions through a competitive process.

“These allegations included appointments of individuals who did not meet the minimum requirements of the position and the use of appointments to fill permanent vacancies or temporary vacancies of more than 12 months,” the report states. “The investigation also identified individuals selected through competitions who did not meet the minimum requirements of the position, without documentation or rationale on file to support the hiring managers’ decisions.”

The auditor general says, despite these findings, OC Transpo management has indicated that they felt they hired experienced individuals who were well suited to these roles.

“Hiring individuals who do not meet the required qualifications creates inequity and unfairness in recruitment and staffing processes, and the absence of the required qualifications could lead to operational issues,” the report says.

The Office of the Auditor General found 10 contraventions of the requirement to post certain jobs for open competition instead of appointment. Of those 10 appointments, seven of the individuals did not meet the education or the experience requirement of the position as outlined in the job description.

The investigation also found that four instances where people who lacked the necessary qualifications were screened into competition and eventually hired. There was no available rationale by the hiring manager for these decisions.

The report does not identify the individuals nor the specific positions that were filled by these candidates.

“Based on our discussions with management, one service area in scope recently faced major leadership gaps. In the interest of stabilizing the area, management committed to promoting from within wherever possible and selecting candidates that combined leadership capability, technical expertise and cultural fit,” the report says. “In another service area, management cited an established practice of selecting the ‘next best fit’ candidates where there are no candidates that strictly meet the education and experience requirements (unless a professional accreditation is required).”

The report notes that these practices undermine the job evaluation process and raise questions about the appropriateness of the minimum education and experience levels identified.

The investigation also found that outdated job descriptions were used in some cases. Job documentation must be reviewed every five to 10 years, but in two cases, the job description had not been updated since 2013. Management said it was due to a backlog of job evaluations forcing them to use existing job descriptions.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The report makes three recommendations, all of which were accepted by management:

1. That new positions, permanent vacancies and temporary vacancies of more than 12 months within OC Transpo are consistently posted for competition, as per the MPE Terms of Conditions of Employment;

2. That rationale supporting recruitment and staffing decisions is appropriately documented and retained, for both appointments and competitions; and

3. That minimum education and experience levels for MPE roles are periodically reviewed through the job evaluation process, as per the cycle suggested in the Periodic Review of MPE Job Procedure.

“Based on our discussions with management, they are aware of the large number of appointments that occurred within certain OC Transpo service areas, concerns regarding appointees lacking the necessary qualifications, and the perception of unfairness created as a result. Management indicated that the former General Manager, Transit Services worked with Human Resources (HR) to reinforce the expectation that competitions be held and directed that an HR representative be included as a member of the hiring panel for MPE competitions,” the AG report says.