City of Ottawa taps former TTC boss to head up OC Transpo

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Ottawa hires former-CEO of TTC to manage OC Transpo

Former TTC CEO named new general manager of OC Transpo

A former CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is coming to Ottawa to lead OC Transpo, the city has announced.

City Manager Wendy Stephanson told city council in a memo on Friday that Rick Leary has been named the new general manager of Transit Services following an extensive search.

His tenure begins immediately, Stephanson said.

Leary spent 10 years with the TTC, including seven as its CEO. He stepped down in 2024. Prior to his time in Toronto, he held executive positions with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and York Region Transit.

“Rick has extensive experience overseeing integrated bus, light rail, subway, and streetcar systems, with responsibility for operations, maintenance, safety, and long‑term asset management. His leadership has focused on strengthening service reliability, supporting consistent customer experience, and aligning day‑to‑day operations with longer‑term infrastructure and investment priorities,” Stephanson wrote.

“Given his extensive experience, I am confident that Rick is well positioned to lead the Transit Services department in an inspiring and empowering way while strengthening Ottawa’s growing multi-modal transit system.”

Leary moves into the role after Renée Amilcar announced her resignation as general manager of Transit Services in 2025. She is now the head of Mobilité Infra Québec, a new provincial transit infrastructure agency.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said Leary is a proven leader when introducing him during a news conference Friday afternoon.

“We had an opportunity to bring in a proven leader, who has run a much, much larger transit service. He’s not a rookie; he’s the captain of a team that won the Stanley Cup,” he said. “We’re really lucky that somebody like Rick has chosen to move to Ottawa and take on this significant challenge.”

Leary’s arrival comes as OC Transpo faces several issues, including a $52 million deficit, an aging bus fleet, and a light rail line that has had consistent problems since its launch in 2019, most recently involving spalling on the axles of some trains that has limited service on O-Train Line 1.

Sutcliffe admitted it has been a difficult time for riders, but said he believes Leary is the right choice to handle those challenges.

“We still have a lot of work to do on LRT. That’s why we need strong, experienced leadership at OC Transpo right now and why I’m delighted that we’ve been able to recruit Rick to work with us in Ottawa… this is someone who knows what it’s like to run a transit service with buses and trains in a big city.”

‘I recognize the urgency of the moment’

Speaking to reporters Friday, Leary said he knows he’s coming to Ottawa during a challenging time for public transit riders.

“I recognize the urgency of the moment. Riders are counting on us. Not months from now, and not years from now, but today. They need a transit system that they can depend on, whether they’re commuting to work, getting to school, or moving around our city,” he said. “As a regular transit user myself, I understand those expectations and I take them very seriously.”

Leary said he began an assessment Friday morning of the current rail system and will be developing a plan to restore full service on O-Train Line 1.

“I’m fully focused on the task at hand that is restoring Line 1 to full service, ensuring a successful launch of the east-end extension, and re-establishing bus reliability.”

He said he recently rode Line 1 end-to-end on a visit to Ottawa and was impressed by the line. He says he uses transit regularly and intends to move to the city and use the transit system.

He also says he will be taking French lessons. He doesn’t speak the language yet, but is looking forward to learning it.

Leary began his career as a transit worker in Boston and said he still maintains those blue-collar roots.

“I started out as a blue-collar employee, operating trains as a kid when I was in university, so my heart and soul goes out to the frontline employees and the people who make careers in this business. I find public service very rewarding and I think that the employees in this organization will see that and feel it from me,” he said.

Tumultuous time at TTC

Leary left his role in Toronto two years earlier than contracted, following a change of leadership at city hall when Olivia Chow was elected mayor.

“There was a new mayor, a new [TTC] chair, and there’s obviously some idea of going in a new direction,” Rick Leary told CTV News Toronto on Aug. 30, 2024, his last day in office.

He became CEO of the TTC during John Tory’s tenure as mayor and oversaw the system during the COVID-19 pandemic, when ridership cratered like it did in Ottawa. In 2023, several violent and random attacks were reported on public transit in Toronto, prompting transit riders to call for solutions.

Upon his resignation, TTCriders, a membership-based organization of transit users, criticized Leary’s time at the head of the largest public transit agency in Canada.

“The TTC is falling apart. But TTC CEO Rick Leary has not been honest with the public about what’s been going on and what’s needed to fix it,” the group said.

The transit agency was also the subject of multiple lawsuits alleging workplace bullying and harassment, including a 2023 wrongful dismissal lawsuit.

Leary told CTV News Toronto he left the job on his own terms and was not pushed out.

He repeated those claims to reporters in Ottawa on Friday.

“I had a wonderful career, it was 11 years at the TTC and I spent almost seven years as the CEO and it was a fabulous career… I can tell you I left on good terms with the chair (of the TTC) and the mayor of the city of Toronto,” he said.

“I don’t deny there were some accusations. There were never any findings. When you’re in a job that long, they’ll say it was a pressure cooker, but there were never any findings. I made the decision myself, and I said it at the time, ‘I’m 61 years old, what am I going to do for the next part of my life and career?’ I wanted to try another challenge and here I am.”

He had earned a salary of $670,372 in 2024, as head of the TTC.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he founded a company called RJL Transit Strategies, Ltd. in October 2024, providing “expert consulting to public transportation agencies across North America.”

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